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SEVENTH ANGEL: 



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By KEV. SAM'L JACOBS, 

PASTOR OF THE FIRST C. P. CHURCH, EVANSVILLE, INDIANA. 



And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air ; and 
there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from 
the throne, saying, It is done. — Rev. xvi, 17. 




LOUISVILLE, KY.: 
A. F. COX, 452 MARKET STREET. 

185G. 



■3 



Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1856, by 

EEV. SAMUEL JACOBS, 

In the Clerk's Office of the U. S. for the District of Indiana. 



Qg CONGRF.3S 




C ONTENTS, 



LECTURE I. 
The Seventh Angel, 11 

Ll c TURE II. 
The Holy City Trodden Down, .... 43 

LECTURE III. 

The Prophesying of the Witnesses of the Truth— Their 

Death, etc., ....... 83 

LECTURE IV. 

The Church shadowed forth in the persons of the three 

great Apostles, Peter, Paul, and John, . . 117 

LECTURE V. 

The Dispersion and Gathering of the Jews, . .151 

LECTURE VI. 
The Kingdom of Christ, ' 191 

LECTURE VII. 
The Nature of the Millennium, .... 231 



PREFACE. 



The celebrated author, Thomas Dick, LL.D., 
in his "Essay on Covetousness," observes, with 
respect to the Millennium, "It is of importance 
that a clear conviction of the certainty of such 
events should be deeply impressed upon the 
mind of every professor of religion; as some 
who call themselves Christians, have not only 
insinuated, but openly declared, that the state of 
the world will never be much better than it is ; 
and, consequently, that we need give ourselves 
little trouble in making exertions for the regen- 
eration of society — which is just, in other words, 
an apology for indulgence in covetousness." 

The view thus expressed, together with other 
considerations, led the author to prepare these 
Lectures in the present form. 

They were delivered in the First Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church, in the city of Evansville, 
Indiana, early in the Summer of 1855, with a 
view of showing from the "signs of the times," 
and the developments of prophecy, that the 



VI PREFACE. 

period, usually denominated the Millennium, is 
near at hand. As the tender branch and opening 
foliage of the fig-tree announce "that summer is 
near/' these stately steppings of our heavenly 
King are evidences to his children that the time 
of Zion's triumph is here. 

It will not pass unobserved, that portions of 
Scripture introduced into these Lectures are 
indicated simply by the usual quotation marks, 
without giving the chapter and verse ; this would 
only have encumbered the printed text, without 
any particular advantage to the reader. An 
effort was made, in the preparation of these 
Lectures for the present form, to embody in them 
such variety as to suit the tastes of all. We 
aimed to incorporate in them history, theology, 
biography, missions, events, with an occasional 
touch of the descriptive. 

If the book will in any way conduce to the 
advancement of truth, or awaken a more lively 
interest in the cause of our Kedeemer, the author 
will feel amply rewarded. 

SAMUEL JACOBS. 

Evansville, Indiana, March 12, 1856. 



LECTURES, 



LECTURE I. 



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LECTUKE I. 



THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 

" And the seventh angel sounded ; and there were great 
voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are 
become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he 
shall reign forever and ever." — Rev. xi, 15. 

There is an opinion, which has taken 
possession of many of the strong minds of 
Europe, in reference to a vast religious 
movement by which a new epoch in the 
history of the Church is about to be devel- 
oped. A sentiment of a similar kind is 
steadily gaining ground this side of the 
Atlantic. 

It is evident to all who are competent 
to discern the signs of the times, that 
Christianity, which is a life, is beginning 
to develop itself in a way that its prin- 
ciples are being better understood, and 
tend to open the eyes of many who never 



12 THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 

met its beams before. The progressive 
knowledge of Revelation has, to a great 
extent, engendered a sentiment of this 
kind. By accretion, new materials have 
been accumulated, this added to what was 
previously collected by dint of study and 
the aid of science, has given birth to the 
idea that the present state of things is 
indicative of an extraordinary epoch in the 
history of the Church. 

It is not our intention in these lectures 
to enter the arena of controversy on the 
subject of the Church question, with which 
our newspapers, reviews, pamphlets, and 
books are crowded. The controversy 
made between the right of private judg- 
ment and the authority of the Church; 
the individual concern of salvation, or as 
wholly coming through the Church to the 
believer, are questions involving great 
principles, and hence, we leave them to 
wiser and better heads. 

The object of these lectures is to de- 
monstrate, from the signs of the times and 



THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 13 

from prophecy, that we live in a period of 
the history of the world when an event of 
no ordinary kind is about to take place. 
We, my readers, regard that event as the 
commencement of the millennium, or the 
thousand years reign of peace, and the 
triumph of the gospel with which God has 
promised to bless the world of mankind. 
A period moreover, when the black banner 
of the prince of darkness will be hurled to 
the ground, and the banner of Jesus Christ 
reared in its stead. 

It would betray the ignorance of any 
one to assert that the present movements 
in the Church are not the offspring of 
Christianity. Hitherto our exertions were 
isolated and feeble, the little silvery rip- 
ples fructified the plains through which 
they passed, but could easily be checked 
or evaporated. But their juncture has 
formed a mighty river, moving majesti- 
cally, destined to penetrate every moral 
desert, and carry fertilization to our deso- 
lated world; rolling on and bearing the 



14 THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 

precious fruits of grace and truth from 
land to land, and from nation to nation, 

" Till like a sea of glory, 

It spreads from pole to pole." 

The majestic river that rolls its vast 
columns of water towards the great deep, 
in some respects is a fit emblem of the 
own ward progression of the Church. Some- 
times it moves along slowly and heavily, 
like the water over the tunnel of the 
Thames at London ; occasionally its velo- 
city is scarcely perceptible ; it moves 
majestically, with ease, as if conscious of 
its gathering strength, and then it thun- 
ders down the vast cataract, leaping for- 
ward anxious to bury itself in the bosom 
of the ocean; proclaiming to all around 
that its force is powerful and irresistible. 

A consciousness of the responsibility 
resting upon the Church together with a 
belief in the firmness and stability of the 
Divine operations, has called forth every 
means that would tend to spread the gos- 
pel among the inhabitants of the earth. 



THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 15 

And such has been the success attending 
these means, that infidelity in its varied 
forms, has not, and cann:t y rear an effec- 
tual barrier to their influence and their 
rapid progress. Obstacle after obstacle is 
giving way. Barriers, hitherto insurmount- 
able, are now overcome. Every event 
of Providence declares plainly that an 
ever watchful God is guarding the interests 
of his cause in this world. The Church 
was never nearer his heart than now; and 
he hates her enemies as really as he did 
Nero, Julian, and others, whose enmity to 
the cause of the crucified One led them 
to use all their power towards extermi- 
nating the Christian religion. 

Having made these preliminary obser- 
vations by way of introducing the subject 
to your attention, I shall now show, 

1. What we are to understand as the 
fulfillment of the sounding of the six angels 
implied in the words of the text ; and 

2. Prove that it is about this period ice 
are to expect the sounding of the seventh 



16 THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 

angel, and consequent upon this the com- 
mencement of the millennium. 

The book of Revelation contains a 
series of prophecies exhibiting the state of 
the Church, and of the world as connected 
with the Church, from the days of the 
Apostles until the end of time. The 
Revelation was given in the first century 
of the Christian era. The epistle to the 
seven churches of Asia, presents us with 
a concise view of the state of religion in 
the Christian world at that period. The 
remaining part of the book consists of a 
series of visions, by which the Spirit of 
God unfolded to the exile of Patmos the 
scenes of future times; and he presents 
them to us precisely in the same manner 
as they appeared to him. There is, there- 
fore, no natural obstruction in the way of 
any one who uses the proper means with 
a suitable disposition to attain an accurate 
knowledge of the prophecies as far as they 
are accomplished. Is is not indeed in- 
tended that we, by the study of prophecy, 



THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 17 

should be able to unfold the scenes of 
future times, and tell what kind of events 
are predicted, and when those events shall 
take place. "It is not for us to know the 
times or the seasons which the Father 
hath put in his own power." It is the 
wisdom of God to throw a kind of natural 
obscurity over the prophecies until they 
are about to be fulfilled. Thus we see 
that prophecy is emphatically what it is 
represented to be by the apostle Peter: 
'• A light shining in a dark place." If we 
suppose ourselves at the hour of midnight 
standing on the margin of the ocean, and 
behold a distant light twinkling on the 
verge of the horizon, we may then under- 
stand what the scriptures mean by pro- 
phecy before it is fulfilled. But as the 
light gradually approaches, it becomes 
larger and brighter, so that we are enabled 
to discern some of the objects around it, 
until at length all the darkness is dis- 
pelled, and we see every object clearly and 
plainly before us. Thus when any pro- 



18 THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 

phecy is fulfilled, the darkness is removed, 
and the event predicted stands before us in 
the brightness of the noon-day sun. 

When we contemplate any event re- 
corded by the spirit of prophecy, and look 
for its accomplishment, it is necessary for 
us to understand from the general tenor 
of the scriptures in what period of the 
w : orld it is to take place. God, in his 
providence, has divided the world into 
different periods, or dispensations, and the 
events which are prophesied of as to take 
place in one of these periods are not to be 
looked for in another. 

The neglect of this salutary caution has 
led many commentators astray, and in- 
duced them to mistake the scintillations 
or the ignus-fatuus of their own fancy for 
the light of prophecy. Thus the world 
has been bewildered with dreams of enthu- 
siasm instead of the true interpretation of 
scripture. But if we keep in view the whole 
tenor of scripture prophecy, and look for 
the event in that period in which it ought 



THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 19 

to take place, we shall find no difficulty 
in discerning any event as soon as it comes 
to pass. 

The first part of this prophecy consists 
of a book, or rather a roll of parchment, in 
the hand of him who sat upon the throne. 
This was the kind of books which were 
used in those times. It consisted of seven 
pieces of parchment, written within and 
without, and sealed together with seven 
seals ; and when these seals were succes- 
sively opened, each one of them presented 
to the mind of the Apostle a distinct reve- 
lation concerning some important event, 
or some important change in the world 
during the two centuries immediately suc- 
ceeding. After these seven rolls of parch- 
ment were unfolded, the Apostle beheld 
seven angels with seven trumpets, and 
these angels went forth in succession, and 
sounded to give an alarm to the world of 
the judgments which were to follow. 
Hence, we propose to show, 

1. What tve are to understand as the 



20 THE SEVENTH AXGEL. 

fulfillment of the sounding of the six angels 
implied in the ivords of the text. 

The first of these trumpets related to 
the judgments which were executed on the 
Roman Empire, by the ravages of the 
Goths under the command of Alaric ; who 
crossed the Danube on the ice, traversed 
the plains of Macedonia and Thessaly, 
passed Thermopylae, where no Leonidas 
opposed his march, and overrun the whole 
of Greece, leaving his bloody traces all 
along his path. After having ravaged 
Greece in a most terrible manner, Alaric 
turned upon Itaty. And notwithstanding 
the heart of the empire was struck with 
disease, there was still spasmodic strength 
in those giant limbs which had grasped 
the extremities of the earth. In a time 
of need she would make a mighty effort 
to maintain her right. The legions were 
called from all the provinces to the defense 
of Italy. So terrible was the conflict, that 
the Goth was thrice repelled; but urged 
on by an impulse which he declared he 



THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 21 

had no power to resist, he returned to the 
attack, which terminated in his favor. 
The convulsive strength of Rome was 
exhausted, and Alaric stood a victor before 
her walls, the first stranger, perhaps, who 
since Hannibal the Carthagenian general, 
six centuries before, had beheld the city; 
save as an ally, a suppliant, or a captive. 
These ravages were made between the 
fourth and fifth centuries. 

The second trumpet referred to the 
ravages of the Vandals with Genseric at 
their head. Africa was the field assigned 
Genseric the Vandal. He passed the 
straits of Gibralter in vessels furnished by 
the Spaniards, who, being filled with fear 
respecting their own safety, were joyful to 
expedite his departure. A new city had 
sprung up upon the ruins of ancient Car- 
thage, which almost equaled the magnifi- 
cence of Rome itself. Genseric appeared 
so suddenly before it, that while his brave 
men were mounting the walls of the city 
its inhabitants were crowding the circus, 



22 THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 

unconscious of their danger. The fertile 
African coast, the granary of Rome, the 
reduction of Hippo and Carthage, together 
with all northern Africa, resulted in the 
establishment of a government under Gen- 
seric that waged a long war with Rome, 
which finally resulted in favor of the Van- 
dal general. 

In the sounding of the third trumpet 
the attention is called to Attila, the king 
of the Huns. There is considerable una- 
nimity among expositors in applying it to 
Attila, a more ferocious race than the 
former. As to the chief, he regarded him- 
self as being devoted to Mars the god of 
w T ar, and the common appellation by which 
he has been designated is, " The scourge 
of God, and the terror of men." It has 
been said that he applied this title to him- 
self: and boasted that he was sent into 
the world by God for this purpose. This 
general and his men " for the period of 
fourteen years, shook the East and West 
in the most terrible manner, and deformed 



THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 23 

the provinces of each empire with all kinds 
of plundering, slaughter, and burning. 
They wasted Thrace, Macedon, and Greece, 
putting all to fire and sword, and com- 
pelled the eastern emperor, Theodosius the 
second, to purchase a shameful peace. Then 
turned his arms against the western em- 
peror, Valentinian the third ; and entered 
Gaul with seven hundred thousand men, 
and, not content with taking and spoiling, 
set most of the cities on fire. But at 
length, being there vigorously opposed, 
he fell upon Italy, took and destroyed 
Aquileia." After this he continued his 
march; the cities Altinum, Concordia, and 
Pauda, were reduced to ashes. The in- 
land towns, Vicenza, Verona, Bergamo, all 
shared the same fate. The plains of Lom- 
bardy through which the river Po flowed, 
were bounded by the Alps and the 
Appennines. All the cities builded on 
these beautiful plains were visited with 
depopulation, slaughter, servitude, burning 
and desperation. It is a saying worthy 



24 THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 

the ferocious pride of Attila, that the 
"grass never grew on the spot where his 
horse had trod." The career of this king 
was of short duration, and yet brilliant, 
and may well be represented by the falling 
of a blazing meteor in its rapid flight from 
heaven to earth. He figured very largely 
for the space of twenty years, in which 
time were performed all the deeds ascribed 
to him. The blazing star shone out in 
peerless and dazzling splendor in its pas- 
sage from heaven to earth, and then went 
forever out by falling into the sea. 

The fourth trumpet shows the feeble and 
expiring state of the empire by the em- 
blem of the sun, and moon, and stars being 
darkened, and the third part of them being 
smitten. Then follows the three woe 
trumpets. "I beheld/' says the Apostle, 
"and heard an angel flying through the 
midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, 
Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the 
earth by reason of the other voices of the 
trumpet of the three angels, which are yet 
to sound." 



THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 25 

The fifth trumpet had reference to the 
rise and progress of the impostor Moham- 
med and the judgments which were exe- 
cuted on the Christian world by the nume- 
rous armies of Saracens, who covered the 
country like locusts, and continued their 
ravages for a hundred and fifty years, 
which is the five months mentioned by the 
Apostle, as the period of this judgment. 
At the end of this woe, there seems to be 
a kind of cessation of calamities, and the 
Christian world seems to have the advan- 
tage of their enemies for a number of ages ; 
but they are admonished not to rest in 
security, for " one woe is past ; and be- 
hold, there come two woes more hereafter." 

The commencement of the judgments 
signified by the sixth trumpet was made 
in the latter part of the thirteenth cen- 
tury, about the year 1280, when the four 
angels were loosed who had been bound 
by the river Euphrates. Then came for- 
ward the four Sultans of the Turkish or 
the Ottoman empire, who had been con- 
2 



26 THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 

fined for many years within the limits of 
their own territories by the Crusades, or 
the wars of the Christians to recover the 
Holy Land from the infidels. These are 
the four angels who had been prepared 
" for an hour, and a day, and a month, and 
a j^ear, for to slay the third part of men." 
These tremendous judgments continued 
for nearly four hundred years, and this 
second woe concludes with what is con- 
tained in the little book which the Apostle 
saw in the hand of the angel who stood 
with one foot upon the earth and the other 
upon the sea, and swore that time should 
be no longer; but that in the time or 
period of the seventh woe trumpet, the 
mystery of God should be finished, and 
then should commence the millennium. 
"The seventh angel sounded; and there 
w r ere great voices in heaven, saying, The 
kingdoms of this world are become the 
kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; 
and he shall reign forever and ever." This 
leads us to notice, 



THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 27 

2. That it is about this period ive are 
to expect the sounding of the seventh angel, 
and consequently, the millennium* 

In order to establish the proposition 
announced in the second division of the 
subject, it will be necessary to call your 
attention, for a few moments, to the second 
grand division of the second part of the 
book of Revelation. The first part, which 
ends with the third chapter, gives a con- 
cise view of the Christian world at the 
close of the first century, and the second 
part exhibits a view of the state of the 
Christian world from that period until the 
last judgment, and concludes with a short 
description of the heavenly state. The 
second part has two grand divisions. The 
first commences with the fourth and ends 
with the eleventh chapter, and the second 
division commences with the twelfth 
chapter, and gives another and more 
particular view of the same subject. We 
therefore, call attention to the commence- 
ment of the thirteenth chapter of Re vela- 



28 THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 

tion: "I stood/' says the Apostle, "upon 
the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up 
out of the sea, having seven heads and ten 
horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and 
upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 
And the beast which I saw was like unto a 
leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a 
bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a 
lion; and the dragon gave him his power, 
and his seat, and great authority. And I 
saw one of his heads, as it were, wounded 
to death, and his deadly wound was healed; 
and all the world wondered after the beast. 
And they worshiped the dragon which 
gave power unto the beast; and they wor- 
shiped the beast, saying, who is like unto 
the beast; who is able to make war with 
him? And there was given unto him a 
mouth speaking great things, and blas- 
phemies; and power was given unto him 
to continue forty and two months." By 
the forty and two months we are to 
understand 1260 days, according to the 
Jewish mode of computing time. These 



THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 29 

1260 days are 1260 prophetic years, 
according to the key given us by the 
prophet Ezekiel. For the benefit of the 
reader we will insert the key adverted to, 
as this the better enables us to understand 
the meaning of the expression, "forty and 
two months." 

"For I have laid upon thee the years of 
their iniquity, according to the number of 
the days, three hundred and ninety days; 
so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house 
of Israel. And when thou hast accom- 
plished them, lie again on thy right side, 
and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the 
house of Judah forty days; I have 
appointed thee each day for a year." 
"And your children shall wander in the 
wilderness forty years, * * * after the 
number of the days in which ye searched 
ed the land, even forty days, each day for 
a year" 

Here, then, we have the testimony of 
two witnesses respecting the meaning of 
the expression "forty and two months." 



30 THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 

and the wisest and best of teachers has 
said, "in the mouth of two or three wit- 
nesses, every word may be established." 
By the sea referred to in the thirteenth 
chapter of Revelation, we are to understand 
the fluctuating state of the Roman empire 
a short time after the dethronement of 
Momyllus, or Augustulus, as he was named 
in derision, being a diminutive Augustus. 
He was the last of the emperors. It con- 
sisted of a vast congregated multitude of 
people, of different nations and languages, 
who acknowledged the sovereignty of the 
Pope. The dethronement of Momyllus 
was effected by Odoacer, king of the 
Heruli; who coming to Rome with an 
army of barbarians, stripped the Emperor 
of the imperial robes, put an end to the 
very name of the Western Empire, and 
caused himself to be proclaimed king of 
Italy. His kingdom continued perhaps 
sixteen years. By the beast which rose out 
of the sea, we are to understand the 
seventh and last form of government, 



THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 31 

which still subsists ; and by the ten horns 
which wore the ten crowns, we are to 
understand the ten kingdoms which are 
said to have given their power and strength 
to the beast. Nothing can be more evi- 
dently pointed out to us, than that the city 
of Rome is the seat of this idolatrous and 
persecuting power. The seven heads 
are, in the first place, said to be seven 
mountains, and it is well known that Rome 
is situated on seven hills. This great city, 
which has so long reigned over the kings 
of the earth, is represented in the seven- 
teenth chapter, by a woman setting upon 
a scarlet colored beast, having seven heads 
and ten horns. "He carried me away in 
the spirit into the wilderness; and I saw 
a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, 
full of names of blasphemy, having seven 
heads and ten horns. And the woman 
was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, 
and decked with gold and precious stones, 
and pearls, having a golden cup in her 
hand full of abominations and filthiness ol 



82 THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 

her fornication. And upon her forehead 
was a name written: MYSTERY, BABY- 
LON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER 
OF HARLOTS, AND ABOMINATIONS 
OF THE EARTH." The seven heads 
of the beast represented not only the 
seven hills on which Rome is built, but 
also the seven forms of government which 
have succeeded one another in that city 
since the first foundation of the empire. 
"There are seven kings; five are fallen, 
and one is, and the other is not, yet come ; 
and when he cometh, he must continue a 
short space. And the beast that was, and 
is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the 
seven, and goeth into perdition." Of these 
seven forms of government, five had fallen 
at the time of the Apostle. These were 
Kings, Consuls, Dictators, Decemvirs, and 
military Tribunes. The Imperial head 
was that which then subsisted. When, 
therefore, this form of government fell, 
there was to be a short space only, before 
the eighth and last head. Indeed, this 



THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 33 

short interval between the Imperal head 
and the last form, could scarcely be called 
a regular government, and therefore, it is 
said, "the beast that was, and is not, even 
he is the eighth and is of the seven." This 
last head may be said in some sense to 
have been in existence from the time that 
the Emperor ceased to rule, and this makes 
the difficulty in ascertaining the precise 
time when this beast rose out of the sea. 
If we could ascertain the precise period 
of his rise, we could easily ascertain the 
period of the termination of his reign ; for 
it would only be necessary to add the 
"forty and two months," or 1260 years, 
which would bring us down to the time of 
his fall. 

But, as the rise of the beast out of the 
sea was gradual, and shows the gradual 
lise of the power of anti-Christ, so we are 
here to fix our attention on two particular 
periods of time, namely: the time when 
he began to rise, or when the Apostle saw 
him first make his appearance above the 



34 THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 

surface of the water, and the time when he 
may be said to have been risen, and stand- 
ing on the shore. This may be supposed 
to be a trivial speculation, but it is never- 
theless a very important consideration in 
the development of the prophecy. For, 
as power was given to this beast to con- 
tinue forty and two months, so he must 
begin to sink at the end of forty and two 
months, from the time in which he began 
to rise. And for the same reason he shall 
be utterly destroyed in forty and two 
months from the time in which he was 
completely risen. No government rises 
in a moment, or falls in a moment; but 
governments generally require a length of 
time to rise or fall, in proportion to their 
magnitude. It is not to be supposed that 
the spiritual domination of the Church of 
Rome, and the consolidation of the ten 
kingdoms under her government, could be 
completed in much less than half a century. 
It was probably not the work of one man, 
nor a generation of men, but of a succes- 



THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 35 

sion of bodies of men, engaged in the 
same work, and the succeeding generation 
carried on, and endeavored to bring to 
perfection what their fathers had begun. 
Hence, as this government rose by slow 
degrees, so by slow degrees it may be 
expected to fall. It is said to continue 
for one thousand two hundred and sixty 
years from the commencement of its rise 
to the commencement of its decline, and 
the same length of time from the period 
of its acknowledgment by the ten king- 
doms, until the period of its utter extinc- 
tion. 

Now, then, it is generally agreed by 
historians, and the most respectable com- 
mentators, that the Bishop of Rome was 
acknowledged as ecumenical, or universal 
Bishop, about the year GOO. This title 
was conferred upon Boniface III, by the 
Emperor Phocas. He was then called the 
spiritual lord of the world, and the vice- 
gerent of Jesus Christ. It was then that 
he placed himself in the temple of God, 



36 THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 

showing himself as though he were God. 
We cannot, therefore, suppose that this 
monster of iniquity could have risen to 
such enormous power in less than from 
thirty to fifty years, from the time of the 
commencement of his ambition. We know 
from the historians of that period, that 
the Bishops of Rome were then as ambi- 
tious as they are in the present day, and 
that they had even more power in the 
middle of the sixth century, than they 
now possess. We may, therefore, very 
safely date the commencement of the rise 
of anti-Christ in the year 560; if then, we 
add to this period thirty years, the time of 
his rising, we have 590, and by adding the 
1260 years to it, we are landed in the 
present period of the world. If then, 
three years and a half, the time that the 
witnesses of the truth were slain and their 
bodies lay upon the street of the city, be 
added, we are then placed still nearer the 
present time in which we live. Or, take 
the other date, which is more easily com- 



THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 37 

prehended. He was made universal 
Bishop in 600; by adding to this date the 
time he is to rule, or to cast down the 
truth to the ground, and to practice and 
prosper, which, as before stated, is 12 GO 
years, those two numbers added together 
will land us in 1866. This is the first 
proof of our position. We expect, in the 
further prosecution of this subject, to 
adduce other arguments looking in the 
same direction, and which to us are suffi- 
ciently strong and clear in themselves, 
that no one who will pay some attention 
to the subject, can fail to see. 1866, or 
thereabouts, is the time we have fixed in 
our minds as the period when the blessed 
millennium will be rapidly advancing to 
the summit of its glory. 

"Revolutions sufficient in number and 
importance to fill the pages of the world's 
history for a century, have been crowded 
into a twelve-month. The crashing of 
falling dynasties has echoed from every 
shore. Crowns and coronets have fallen 



88 THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 

thick as meteors in the November ' shower 
of stars.' Thrones of tyranny have fallen 
without a visible foe. Despotic power has 
melted before popular rights. Absolutism 
in church and state has received its death 
blow. Freedom of conscience, freedom of 
speech, freedom of the press — in other 
words, the liberty of being men and 
Christians, and of making others such,- — 
these have been the watchwords of revolu- 
tion, the incentives to heroic and successful 
struggles with despotism. Though there 
may be many reverses, may we not adopt 
the expressive language of Robert Hall, 
i The empire of darkness and of despotism 
has been smitten with a stroke that has 
sounded through the universe.' When 
we see whole kingdoms, after reposing for 
centuries on the lap of their rulers, start 
from their slumbers, the dignity of man 
rising from depression, and tyrants trem- 
bling on their thrones, w 7 ho can remain 
entirely indifferent, or fail to turn his eyes 
to a theater so august and extraordinary? 



THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 39 

These are a kind of throes and struggles 
of nature to which it would be sullenness 
to refuse our sympathy. Old foundations 
are breaking up; new edifices are rearing." 
Now, more than at any previous history, 
is the gospel making its way among the 
nations. The mightiest bulwarks behind 
which Satan has entrenched himself, have 
been Paganism, Mohammedinism and the 
Papacy. The great disideratum in the 
council-chamber of pandemonium has 
always been, how could the true God not 
be worshiped, and yet this innate disposi- 
tion to worship be gratified. It would 
seem that the difficulty was solved by the 
arch-fiend of man's best and most endur- 
ing interests. But now the sleeping 
nations have awaked from their long slum- 
ber, and have 

" Found an aching void, 
The world can never fill. " 

Light, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, 
has been desired. The Macedonian cry 

is sounding in our ears, " come over and 



40 THE SEVENTH ANGEL. 

help us." Much has already be done. 
Religion's golden chain has bound the 
hearts of many poor heathens to the 
throne of God. Cheering intelligence 
reaches our ears almost constantly of the 
unparalleled progress of the " knowledge 
of the truth/' and still 

"From many an ancient river — 

From many a palmy plain, 
They call us to deliverj | 

Their land from error's chain." 

Of this we shall more particularly speak 
in our future lectures, and show, from 
present indications, that the time is near 
at hand when 

" Christ shall reign on Zion's hill, 
And all the earth with glory fill." 



LECTURE II. 



t Solg Citg fcfoktt gofon. 



LECTURE II. 



THE HOLY CITY TRODDEN DOWN. 

And the holy city shall they tread under foo^ forty and 
Wo months. — Rev. xi, 2. 

My hearers, it may be regarded as an 
established fact, that God will finish every 
work he has commenced respecting his 
Church. No unseen embarrassments can 
defeat him in his original purpose. Whether 
we can trace his footsteps or not — for be 
assured, that many of his plans lie con- 
cealed from us, — it follows, as a reasonable 
deduction from the premises, that the 
Church, in her spiritual structure, will 
ultimately receive her top-stone. True, 
she has passed through very many severe 
afflictions and cruel persecutions. But 
these have been to her as the " refiner's 
fire and fuller's soap." One beautifully 

Note, — The author is indebted to Rev. A, Barnes for 
pome thoughts in this Locturo. 



44 THE HOLY CITY 

observes that "God is the refiner; his 
people the gold, and affliction the furnace." 
The worlds he commenced, he finished. 
They rolled from his omnific hand com- 
pleted, and fully fitted to subserve the 
purposes for which they were made ; not 
one w T as left half formed or motionless. 
By his wisdom each was placed in its 
orbit; and from the same source they 
derived light, laws, and impulse. Ever 
since their formation they have rolled on 
with steady and settled course. No comet 
has ever rushed into the sun, or infringed 
upon a planet. How are the comets 
reigned and curbed in their eccentric 
orbits, and never yet had power or permis- 
sion to burn a single world. 

When Jehovah became incensed at our 
world, and resolved upon its destruction, 
with what a firm and steady step did he 
go on to achieve his purpose. He gives 
command, and Noah builds the ark, which 
being completed, God, who had hitherto 
barred the fountains of the deep, caused 



TRODDEN DOWN. 45 

the waters to leap from their ancient 
boundaries by perhaps changing the 
polarity of the globe. The waters rose, 
and spread, and foamed, and dashed, until 
death seemed to stand as a conqueror 
over the whole face of nature; and the 
only spark of life visible, was the dim 
flickering lamp in the ark, as it rocked on 
the waves of an oceaned world. 

That God is of the same mind, and that 
it is not in the power of finite beings to 
turn him, is a thought that is fraught with 
comfort He has resolved that the Church 
established by his Son, shall be universal, 
and he will go on to the accomplishment 
of his purposes respecting it. 

The language of the text refers to a 
melancholy state of the Church for the long 
period of forty and two months, or twelve 
hundred and sixty years, thirty days being 
included in a month; the same period with 
that afterwards termed a time, times, and a 
half a time; that is, a year, two years, and 
half a year, or three years and a half, all 



46 THE HOLY CITY 

of which are prophetic numbers; so that 
twelve hundred and sixty days are twelve 
hundred and sixty years. Let us advert 
to the context. The Apostle was presented 
with "a reed like unto a rod; and the angel 
stood, saying : rise, and measure the tem- 
ple of God, and the altar, and them that 
worship therein. But the court which is 
without the temple leave out, and measure 
it not, for it is given unto the Gentiles ; 
and the holy city shall they tread under 
foot forty and two months." 

The treading down of the city, you will 
observe, was to continue the same length of 
time that the beast was to reign, spoken 
of in our last lecture. Then it was stated 
how long he should reign. Now, we have 
another subject referring to the same 
power; with this difference: In the preced- 
ing lecture the beast, with the authority in- 
vested in him, was noticed. Here we have 
awful work spoken of, — the treading down 
of the holy city, — and it will devolve 
upon us on this occasion, to show, 



TRODDEN DOWN. 47 

1. By whom the holy city was trodden 
down. 

2. The manner in which it was done. 

3. Deduce from the premises another 
argument in proof of oar position. 

In order to the better understanding of 
the subject upon which we have entered, 
it will be necessary to advert, for a moment, 
to the dealings of Providence towards the 
persons by whom the holy city was trod- 
den down. It is a fact that requires no 
proof, that God never chastises a nation or 
people without previous warning. As 
proof of this position, I may be allowed to 
remind you of Noah, who preached one 
hundred and twenty years to the wicked 
antediluvians. In order, then, to prepare 
the way for the first division of our sub- 
ject, it will be necessary to call your 
attention to the ninth chapter of Revelation, 
commencing at the thirteenth verse. You 
will now remember, 

1. By whom the holy city teas trodden 
down. " And the sixth angel sounded, and 



48 THE HOLY CITY 

I heard a voice from the four horns of tne 
golden altar which is before God, saying to 
the sixth angel which had the trumpet, 
loose the four angels which are bound in 
the great river Euphrates. And the four 
angels were loosed, which were prepared 
for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a 
year, for to slay the third part of men. 
And the number of the army of the 
horsemen were two hundred thousand 
thousand; and I heard the number of them. 
And thus I saw the horses in the vision, 
and them that sat on them, having breast- 
plates of fire, and of jacinth and brimstone; 
and the heads of the horses tvere as the 
heads of lions, and out of their mouths 
issued fire, and smoke, and brimstone. By 
these three was the third part of men 
killed by the fire, and by the smoke, and 
by the brimstone, which issued out of their 
mouths. For their power is in their 
mouth, and in their tails; for their tails 
tvere like unto serpents, and had heads, 
and with them they do hurt. And the 



TRODDEN DOWN. 49 

rest of the men which were not killed by 
these plagues, yet repented not of the 
works of their hands, that they should 
not worship devils and idols of gold, and 
silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood, 
which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk; 
neither repented they of their murders, 
nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornica- 
tion, nor of their thefts." 

It is very probable, my hearers, that the 
first part of this prophecy related to the 
Turkish power, extending from the time of 
the first appearance of the Turks in the 
neighborhood of . the Euphrates, to the 
final conquest of Constantinople, in 1453. 
The Turkish power, we are told, rose on 
the decline of the Arabic, and was the 
next important power in affecting the 
destinies of the world. 

The Turks had their origin in the vicinity 
of the Caspian sea, and were divided into 
branches, one on the east and the other on 
the west. The latter, we are informed by 
good authority, could, in the tenth century, 



50 THE HOLY CITY 

collect forty thousand soldiers, and the 
other branch numbered perhaps one hun- 
dred thousand families. A mighty 
Turkish and Moslem power was finally 
concentrated under Toguel, who had con- 
quered the Caliph in the region of the 
Tigris and the Euphrates, extending east- 
ward, so as to embrace, in its geographical 
limits, Persia and the countries adjacent 
to the Caspian sea. A mighty dominion 
had been forming in the east that had 
subdued Persia, and by union with the 
Caliph, secured the subjugation of Bagdad ; 
and by embracing the Mohammedan faith, 
became prepared to act its subsequent 
important part in the affairs of the world. 
They crossed the Euphrates and invaded 
Asia Minor. This, perhaps, was one of the 
most powerful armies ever marshaled in 
battle array. According to the statements 
made by Mr. Gibbon respecting this army, 
" The myriad of Turkish horses overspread 
a frontier of six hundred miles, from 
Taurus to Arzeroum." How remarkable 



TRODDEN DOWN. 51 

the language of the Revelation respecting 
this very matter: "The number of the 
army of the horsemen were two hundred 
thousand thousand." 

Alp Arslan, the son of Torgul, became 
the successor of his father, who, fired with 
ambition, passed the Euphrates at the head 
of the Turkish cavalry, and entered 
Cesarea, the metropolis of Cappadocia, to 
which, as we are informed, he was attracted 
by the fame and wealth of the temple of 
St. Basil. The next thing at which they 
aimed, was the establishment of a king- 
dom in Asia Minor, evidently with a view 
of seizing upon Constantinople when 
an opportunity should be presented. The 
establishing of the Turks in Anatolia, or 
Asia Minor, was the most deplorable loss 
which the Church and Empire had sus- 
tained. This kingdom, says one, " was 
added to the table of oriental geography." 
It extended from the Euphrates to Con- 
stantinople, and from the Black Sea to the 
confines of Syria. The next notable 



52 



THE HOLY CITY 



event in the history of the Turkish power, 
was the conquest of Jerusalem. By this 
the attention of the Turks was turned for 
a time from the conquest of Constantino- 
ple — an event at which the Turkish 
power all along aimed, and in which they 
expected ultimately to be successful. Had 
they not been diverted from it by the wars 
connected with the Crusades, Constantino- 
ple would have fallen long before it did 
fall, for it was too feeble to defend itself 
had it been attacked. The conquest of 
Jerusalem by the Turks, and the oppres- 
sions which Christians experienced there, 
gave rise to the Crusades, by which the 
destiny of Constantinople was still longer 
delayed. The war of the Crusades was 
made on the Turks, and as the Crusades 
mostly passed through Constantinople and 
Anatolia, all the power of the Turks in 
Asia Minor was requisite to defend them- 
selves, and consequently, they were unable 
to make an attack upon Constantinople 
until after the final defeat of the Crusades, 



TRODDEN DOWN. 53 

and the restoration of peace. They sub- 
sequently, however, struck the final blow, 
and Constantinople fell into the hands of 
the Turks in 1453. This event estab- 
lished the Turkish power in Europe, and 
checked the progress of a corrupt Church. 
If you ask why all this was permitted, 
we answer that God intended by the use 
of this power, to arrest the progress of a 
corrupt Christianity, and also to scourge 
an idolatrous Church. Had not the sword 
of the crescent been drawn, where would 
the ravages of the beast with seven heads 
been stayed? His ambition led him to 
extend as far as possible, the power of the 
Romish Church. But Jehovah had fixed 
her bounds: "thus far shalt thou go, but 
no further." The voice that proceeded 
from the four horns of the golden altar, 
is a strong indication of the Divine dis- 
pleasure, and plainly intimates that the 
sins of men must have been very great, 
when the altar which was their sanctuary 
and protection, called aloud for vengeance. 



54 THE HOLY CITY 

We see here also, that God restrains 
the enemies of the Church until he gives 
the word to have them turned loose, and 
also, that God has at his command instru- 
ments to accomplish his purposes at any- 
time, for any hour, or day, or month, or 
year, that God shall appoint. By these 
instruments the eastern portion of a cor- 
rupt and idolatrous Church was completely 
routed. They were the first in the crime, 
so they were first, likewise, in the punish- 
ment. They were previously visited by 
the Saracens; but this producing no change 
or reformation, it became necessary to 
chastise them by a more formidable power, 
the Turks, and they were entirely ruined 
by them. Hence, we are driven to the 
conclusion that the ho]y city was trodden 
down by the Romish Church; because 
there were no Churches remaining after 
this judgment, guilty of the sins specified, 
but the western, or those in communion 
with Rome. And they were not at all 
reclaimed by the ruin of the eastern, but 



TRODDEN DOWN. 55 

persisted still in their iniquities. From 
these considerations we can arrive at no 
other conclusion than that the holy city 
was trodden down by the Romish Church, 
which will appear still more evident 
by calling your attention to the second 
division of our subject, in which we 
promised to show, 

2. How, or in what way the holy city 
was trodden down. The Apostle, in giving 
us a description of the judgments alluded 
to, proceeds to enumerate the sins of which 
they repented not: "And the rest of the 
men which were not killed by these plagues, 
yet repented not of the works of their 
hands, that they should not worship devils, 
and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, 
and stone, and of wood, which can neither 
see, nor hear, nor walk. Neither repented 
they of their murders, nor of their sorce- 
ries, nor of their fornication, nor of their 
thefts." 

These are very serious charges to be 
alleged against the Church. Yet, they 



56 THE HOLY CITY 

are true. John looked down the dim vista 
of time, and beheld within the bosom of 
the Romish Church, the various things 
specified, and he recorded them; and what 
he uttered respecting these things was com- 
pletely fulfilled in the history of the Church 
of Rome. 

It must be obvious to the individual 
disposed to chronicle events, that some, or 
all these sins were committed from the 
time the city began to be trodden down, 
seeing the witnesses prophesied the same 
length of time, which corresponds with the 
same period of the woman dwelling in the 
wilderness, which was for a "time, times, 
and half a time." 

We now propose to show from a state- 
ment of historical facts, that the specific 
charges made by John, may with justice 
be applied to the Church of Rome. And 
if we can succeed in establishing this, it 
will not only demonstrate how the holy 
city was trodden down, but at the same 
time it will be another strong proof that 



TRODDEN DOWN. 57 

we are now rapidly approaching the millen- 
nial period of the world. 

The first specification we shall notice is 
their idolatry. Is this true of the Romish 
Church? Do they sanction it ? To these 
interrogatories we must unhesitatingly 
answer, yes. We go further; they not 
only sanction it, but it is enjoined upon 
her votaries as an imperative duty, and 
notwithstanding the flood of light that has 
poured in upon us in the nineteenth cen- 
tury, they still cling to it, and no doubt 
would regard it as sacrilegious to abandon 
it. It is an article incorporated in her 
compendium of faith, as we learn from the 
decrees of the seventh general council, 
known as the second council of Nice. In 
that celebrated council they authorized 
and established the worship of saints and 
their images. At the same council it was 
decreed, unanimously, that the worship of 
images is agreeable to scripture and reason 
This kind of worship has prevailed every 
where in the bosom of that Church ever 
4 



58 THE HOLY CITY 

since. Who needs to be told that a large 
portion of the actual prayers offered in 
their services is addressed to the Virgin 
Mary. Not only did this practice continue, 
* but new saints have been added to their 
number." In 1460 Catharine of Sienna 
was canonized by Pope Pius II. In 1494 
Anslem was canonized by Alexander. 
Alexander's bull, more heathen than 
Christian, avows it to be the Pope's duty 
thus to choose out, and to hold up the 
illustrious dead, as their merits claim, for 
adoration and worship. The use, and 
even the worship of images was firmly 
established before the end of the sixth 
century," and has been kept up ever since, 
and hence they are justly chargeable with 
the sin of idolatry; because, "sin is the 
transgression of the law," and the law by 
which we are to govern our lives in this 
world emphatically declares, "Thou shalt 
not make unto thee any graven image, or 
any likeness of any thing that is in heaven 
above, or that is in the earth beneath, or 



TRODDEN DOWN. 59 

that is in the water under the earth. Thou 
shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor 
serve them, for I, the Lord thy God, am a 
jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the 
fathers upon the children unto the third 
and fourth generation, of them that hate 
me; and showing mercy unto thousands 
of them that love me, and keep my com- 
mandments." 

Neither repented they of their murders. 
Need I say in this also the Romish Church 
stands guilty. Indeed, in nothing has the 
papacy been more remarkably charac- 
terized than in the vast number of murders 
perpetrated on the innocent in persecution. 
It is supposed by Dr. Berg, who has given 
much attention to the subject, that in the 
crusade against the Waldenses in 1215, a 
million of men perished. In the estab- 
lishment of the barbarous Inquisition, 
150,000 perished in the short period of 
thirty years ; and from the beginning of 
the order of Jesuits, by Loyola, in 1510 
to 1580, a period of forty years, nine 



60 THE HOLY CITY 

hundred thousand persons were killed by 
persecution. The same cruel spirit evinced 
itself in the attempt to suppress the true 
and genuine religion in England, in 
Bohemia, and in the lower countries. Fifty 
thousand persons were hanged, burned, 
beheaded, and buried alive, in what is 
called the low countries. This number 
was vastly increased on the revocation of 
the edict of Nantz, in the multitudes that 
then fell before the arm of persecution. 
To these are to be added all that fell by 
persecution in the days of Mary, of bloody 
memory. Not less than fifty millions of 
persons have perished in the persecutions 
of the Waldenses, Albigenses, Bohemian 
brethren, Wicklifites, and Protestants. In 
the wars of the Spaniards for the express 
purpose of propagating the Catholic 
religion fifteen millions of Indians perished. 
Three millions and a half of Moors and 
Jews perished by Catholic persecution and 
arms in Spain all for the purpose of either 
saving or propagating their own faith. 



TRODDEN DOWN. 61 

Thus, perhaps, not less than sixty-eight 
millions and five hundred thousand human 
beings have been put to death by this one 
cruel, corrupted, and persecuting power. 
Surely these facts, gathered as they have 
been from well authenticated history, 
sufficiently prove the second specification 
made by the inspired Apostle. Their 
history is a history of blood and murder. 

The next specification mentioned in the 
catalogue of crime, is sorcery. They have 
their charms, and magic arts, and rites in 
exorcism, and other things. It is needless 
to remind you of the frauds practiced, the 
cunning devices adopted in order to blind- 
fold the unwary, their pretended miracles 
and revelations, the supposed virtue of 
relics, and a manifest disposition to de- 
ceive. No honest Protestant surely will 
be disposed to deny this, and most assu- 
redly no intelligent Catholic can for a 
moment doubt it. 

" The very recent imposture of the 
holy coat of Treves, is a strong proof that 



62 THE HOLY CITY 

the disposition to practice such arts still 
exists, and that the power to impose on a 
large portion of the world has not yet died 
away." 

Neither repented they of their fornica- 
tion. On this subject we will merely give 
one or two extracts from some authors of 
undoubted veracity. "In early life, during 
the Pontificate II, Roderic Borgio, already 
a Cardinal, had been stigmatized by a 
public censure for his unmuffled debauche- 
ries. Afterwards, he publicly cohabited 
with a Roman matron named Vanozia, by 
whom he had five acknowledged children. 
Neither in his manners, nor in his lan- 
guage, did he affect any regard for morality 
or decency; and one of the earliest acts 
of his pontificate was to celebrate, with 
S3andalous magnificence in his own palace, 
the marriage of his daughter Lucretia! 
On one occasion, this prodigy of vice, 
gave a splendid entertainment within the 
walls of the Vatican, to no less than fifty 
public prostitutes at once, and that in the 



TRODDEN DOWN. 63 

presence of his own daughter, at which 
entertainment deeds of darkness were 
done, over which decency must throw a 
veil; and yet this monster of iniquity was 
regarded by the papists as the legitimate 
successor of the Apostles, and the Vicar 
of God upon earth, and was addressed by 
the title of c His Holiness.' " The following 
is from the pen of one whose fame has 
spread over both hemispheres; I mean 
Dr. D'Aubigne: "The annals of the age 
swarm with scandals. In many places the 
people were well pleased that the priest 
should have a woman in keeping, that 
their wives might be safe from his seduc- 
tions. What scenes of humiliation were 
witnessed in the house of the pastor! 
The wretched man supported the mother 
and her children, with the tithe and the 
offering; his conscience was troubled, he 
blushed in the presence of his people, and 
his servants, and before God. The mother, 
fearing to come to want when the priest 
should die, provided against it beforehand, 



64 THE HOLY CITT 

and robbed the house of the priest of the 
most costly articles. Her character was 
gone, her children were a hying accusation 
of her crimes. The children, treated on 
all sides with contempt plunged into 
brawls and debaucheries. Such was the 
family of the priest!'' Look at the 
many grievances to the Pope's Nando at 
the Diet of Nuiembuig, and remember also 
the speech of Duke George at Worms, 
and his admission of the corruption of the 
priests. Think of the testimony given by 
Erasmus, who is never by the Romanists 
ranked with Protestants, only when he 
boldly points out the licentiousness of the 
priests and monks, then he is branded by 
what is considered by them the most 
odious and disreputable name — a heretic. 
In many places the priests paid to the 
bishop a regular tax for the woman with 
whom he lived, and for every heir he had 
by her. One of the German bishops, at a 
great entertainment, publicly declared that 
eleven thousand priests had applied to him 



TRODDEN DOWN. 65 

for this purpose! It is Erasmus who 
records this. Professor Tischer says on 
this subject: "The Romish monks were 
not merely burdens to community, and 
traitors to their country, but they were 
also addicted to the grossest vices and 
sensuality, and were corrupters of the 
public morals. In passing through a 
country, (on their begging excursions,) 
they cooled the libidinous ardor, which in 
the lap of luxury they had cherished 
during half the year, and debauched mar- 
ried w r omen and virgins. They accom- 
plished their vicious designs under the 
cloak of religion, and by making promises 
of absolution ; even innocence, fortified by 
the strongest sentiments of conjugal fidelity 
and of honor, fell a prey to those wandering 
pious debauchees! In the very cloisters 
so much discord prevailed, and such out- 
rageous indecencies were carried on by 
the monks and nuns, that it is impossible 
to relate them without blushing. Their 
lewd and vicious practices were so note- 



66 THE HOLY CITY 

rious, and so universally known, that they 
were no longer novelties, and had ceased 
to be topics of conversation ! The cloisters 
often contended with the public brothels 
for the prize of superiority in acts of lewd- 
ness ! " And it is true in respect to the 
Romish Church, a title moreover, they 
have applied to themselves, that she is 
"idem semper uMque" always the same. 
Testimony in abundance could be adduced, 
showing that the charge specified by the 
Revelation must necessarily refer to the 
Romish Church, as the charge clings to 
her, however loud they, and their friends 
cry out misrepresentation and persecution. 
She has proven herself to be "mother of 
harlots." 

The last specification made by the 
Apostle, is that of theft It is needless to 
say, that this charge respecting the 
Romish Church is not without founda- 
tion. It comes to us confirmed by the 
voice of history. The most unholy meas- 
ures were adopted in order to fill their 



TRODDEN DOWN. 67 

Church with riches. And such has been 
the success attending their efforts in this 
direction, that in many places where their 
cause has declined, and where the people 
have been robbed by cunning frauds, they 
have more money than they can use, and 
it is sent to this country in large sums, to 
make experiments on new fields. In their 
cunning devices, no regard was had to the 
principle involved; but success, whether 
by honorable or dishonorable means, was 
their aim. And it is a fact substantiated 
by good authority, that success did attend 
them; and by it the Church increased in 
wealth. 

In the ninth century, according to 
Mosheim and others, the lives of saints 
were written with a view of the more effec- 
tually securing the confidence and even 
veneration of an ignorant and deluded 
multitude. The most palpable falsehoods 
were written respecting the wonderful 
exploits which it was said had been per- 
formed by them while on earth. This, 



&8 THE HOLY CITY 

naturally enough, prepared the way for 
lucrative gain. Some, fired with a desire 
of gain together with an ambitious desire 
to be venerated by the multitude, led 
many to use their utmost endeavors to 
fasten upon the minds of the deluded peo- 
ple, the genuineness of these tales. But 
even more than this was done with a 
design to accomplish their ends. It was 
not enough to reverence departed saints, 
and to confide in their intercession and 
succor. It was necessary also that they 
be clothed with imaginary power to heal 
diseases, work miracles, and as possessing 
power to deliver from all the calamitous 
events of life. Nay, their bones, apparel, 
and furniture were all supposed to possess 
healing powers. 

The consequence was, as we might 
naturally expect, every one was eager to 
provide himself with a sacred relic, and 
thus was afforded an opportunity to accu- 
mulate riches. It was necessary that the 
demand be met, and thus, by theft, for it 



TRODDEN DOWN. 09 

can be called nothing else, were the people 
imposed upon and the riches of the Church 
enhanced. 

Look at the history of the Church 
during the twelfth century, and we see 
the same spirit manifested. Mosheim 
uses the following language in respect to 
this subject: "The general prevalence of 
ignorance and superstition was dexterously, 
yet basely, improved, by the rulers of the 
Church, to fill their coffers, and drain the 
purses of the deluded multitude: indeed, 
each rank and order of the clergy had a 
peculiar method of fleecing the people. 
The bishops, when they wanted money for 
their private pleasures, or for the exigen- 
cies of the Church, granted their flock the 
power of purchasing the remission of the 
penalties imposed upon transgressors, by 
a sum of money, which was to be applied 
to certain religious purposes ; or, in other 
words, they published indulgences, which 
became an inexhaustible source of opulence 
to the episcopal orders, and enabled them, 



70 THE HOLY CITY. 

as is well known, to form and execute the 
most difficult schemes for the enlargement 
of their authority, and to erect a multitude 
of sacred edifices, which augmented con- 
siderably the external pomp and splendor 
of the Church. The abbots and monks, 
who were not qualified to grant indul- 
gences, had recourse to other methods of 
enriching their convents. They carried 
about the country the carcasses and relics 
of the saints in solemn procession, and 
permitted the multitude to behold, touch, 
and embrace, at fixed prices, these sacred 
and lucrative remains." Indulgences have 
been a vast source of revenue to the 
Church ; which perhaps can be expressed 
in no better way than to use the language 
of Wickliffe, that they were mere forgeries 
whereby the priesthood rob men of their 
money. The prescription of pilgrimages 
as penances, was another prolific source of 
gain to the Church, that deserves no 
milder name than theft. Every one who 
went on such pilgrimages, went prepared 



TRODDEN DOWN. 71 

to make an offering at the shrine of some 
saint ! Theyprepared themselves because 
they were expected, and even required, 
when bowing at the reliquary tomb, to 
make an offering as a token of their regard 
and veneration for the sacred relic there 
inclosed, and the income from this source 
was immense. 

But even at this day, not only among 
the deluded followers of Rome is this same 
principle being practiced, but we ourselves, 
yes, we Protestants, have been deceived 
by that class of men who above all others 
are most to be dreaded. I mean the 
subtle and dangerous order of Jesuits. 
They did more to check the progress of 
the Reformation in the sixteenth century 
than all other causes combined ; and by 
this very class of men have you and I been 
imposed upon. Yes, we have unwittingly 
contributed of our means to fill the coffers 
of the Romish Church. 

Our country is full of a class of men 
who go from place to place, having in their 



72 THE HOLY CITY 

possession an instrument of writing, pur- 
porting to give a short history of a sad 
misfortune which befell them and their 
family while flying from oppression, with 
a view of seeking a home in the new world. 
Their families are said to be on some 
island of the sea awaiting their return. 
Their apparel indicated poverty, and their 
countenance a sad and broken heart. 
Your sympathies perhaps were touched, 
and you gave your mite. Now let me 
say to one and all, who have been accosted 
by such persons, and to whose call you 
responded, that upon you deception has 
been practiced. The money thus gathered 
together is not, as you suppose, applied 
towards the relief of the distresed ; but 
was put where thousands have been placed. 
These men are Jesuits of the blackest 
kind, who instead of receiving anything at 
our hands, should be spurned from our 
presence. It is only another way devised 
to practice deception, and to take from us 
what is justly our own without giving us 



TRODDEN DOWN. 73 

an equivalent, unless it is the egregious 
deception which is thus practiced upon us. 
This is another scheme that may very 
properly be classed under the head theft 
We now come to the last proposition an- 
nounced in the subject, which was 

3d. To deduce from the premises another 
argument in proof of the near approach of 
the millennium. You will remember our 
first and second divisions of the ^subject 
under consideration. Those persons, who 
perished by the plagues, were of the 
Eastern Roman empire, with the Greek 
Church connected with it ; and those who 
were not killed were of the Western Ro- 
man empire, with the Latin Church con- 
nected with it. Of the latter, it is said by 
the Apostle, they repented not. Although 
the Eastern Church was chastised in a 
most terrible manner, they failed to take 
warning by the sad misfortune which befell 
them, and still persisted in their sins, so 
odious in the sight of God, and which he 
has declared shall not go unpunished. "It 
5 



74 THE HOLY CITY 

is natural/' says Mosheim, "to inquire into 
the true causes that contributed to this 
unhappy revolution. We must not seek 
ibr them either in the councils or in the 
valor of the infidels, but in the dissensions 
that reigned in the Christian armies, in 
the profligate lives of those who called 
themselves the champions of the Cross, 
and in the ignorance, obstinacy, avarice, 
and insolence of the Pope's legates." And 
yet, the - Western branch of the Church 
continued to adhere to all their sins, the 
very same crimes, that drew down upon 
the heads of the Eastern branch the vin- 
dictive wrath of God. They were not to 
do so forever. God has set bounds to 
man's impiety, and if they will not learn 
lessons from his word and his dealings with 
others, they must eventually learn it by 
their own experience. With reference to 
the holy city, he has determined that it 
shall not always be at the mercy of her 
enemies. She is not to be trodden under 
foot forever. At the appointed time he 



TRODDEN DOWN. 75 

will raise her ruined walls, and restore her 
beauty. The period allowed anti-Christ to 
tread down the city is twelve hundred and 
sixty years; and we must necessarily date 
the commencement of this same circum- 
stance from the same period that the Pope 
was acknowledged ecumenical or universal 
bishop, as this with the treading of the 
holy city must have a relative connection. 
Therefore, the time is as in our preceding 
lecture, 1866, or thereabouts. We have 
shown you in what way the holy city was 
trodden down, and by whom, and therefore 
we are led to the conclusion, that the time 
is near at hand when the saints animated 
afresh in the cause of Christ, may sing, 

" Triumphant Zion ! lift thy head 
From dust and darkness, and the dead ! 
Though humbled long, awake at length, 
And gird thee with thy Saviour's strength 
Put all thy beauteous garments on, 
And let thy excellence be known ; 
Decked in the robes of righteousness, 
The world thy glory shall confess. 
No more shall foes unclean invade, 
And fill thy hallowed walls with dread j 
No more shall hell's insulting host 
Their victory and thy sorrows boast. 



76 THE HOLY CITY 

God from on high has heard thy prayer, 
His hand thy ruins shall repair; 
Nor will thy watchful Monarch cease 
To guard thee in eternal peace." 

There is evidently a mighty movement 
among the powers of Europe. Many who 
are now living will witness the complete 
downfall and utter destruction of that 
collossal power established in Europe in 
1815, which for many years has kept the 
world in bondage, and riveted the chains of 
oppression upon its unhappy victims, by 
what was most unrighteously denominated 
the Holy Alliance. It was a most unholy 
compact against the rights and liberties of 
mankind. They have waged a most 
unrighteous war, not only against the 
bodies but the souls of men. Not only do 
they wish to keep their bodies in bondage, 
but their minds in the shackles of igno- 
rance and superstition forever. They have 
continued to the last to give their power 
and strength to the beast, and they shall 
at last go down with him to perdition. 



TRODDEN DOWN. 77 

That high and holy Being who watches 
over the destinies of the nations, who 
has the hearts of kings in his hand, and 
"turns them like the rivulets of water 
into whatever channel he pleases," will now 
begin to turn the tide of their triumph 
into utter defeat and everlasting confusion. 
When their destruction is accomplished, 
then cometh the utter destruction of anti- 
Christian Rome. For, says the Apostle, 
in the sixteenth chapter of Revelation and 
eighteenth verse: " There was a great 
earthquake, such as was not since men 
were upon the earth, so mighty an earth- 
quake, and so great. And the great city 
was divided into three parts, and the cities 
of the nations fell, and great Babylon came 
in remembrance before God, to give unto 
her the cup of the wine of the fierceness 
of his wrath." It would seem as if this, in 
part at least, has had its accomplishment 
in the recent wars and commotions that 
have shaken in such a terrible manner, as 
it were, all Europe. If the present 



78 THE HOLY CITY 

Emperor of France should suddenly die, 
all Europe would be in a blaze, and per- 
haps the most terrible war that ever 
desolated our world would follow. It is 
evident that there will yet be a most 
tremendous concussion between two oppos- 
ing spirits that are now operating upon the 
minds of men; the spirit of emancipation 
and the spirit of tyranny, which so long 
domineered over the world. Who needs 
to be told that these powerful spirits are 
now engaged in embodying their forces, 
and arming and preparing for the conflict. 
Therefore, it is plain, even from a superfi- 
cial view of the world as it is at this very 
time, that there will be in a short time a 
great earthquake, such as was not since 
men were upon earth, so mighty an earth- 
quake and so great. Then, not only Rome, 
but all the unholy compacts and combina- 
tions which have been formed against the 
rights and liberties of mankind, both civil 
and spiritual, shall crumble and fall to 
ruin. Thus, "the cities of the nations 



TRODDEN DOWN. 79 

shall fall," and then Rome, like ancient 
Babylon, shall become a perpetual desola- 
tion. Yes, my friends, the Church will be 
free and the blessings she has to give will 
be scattered among the nations of the 
world. Christianity is moving forward. 
She is on her march, and nothing will stop 
her. She asks no compromise from her 
enemies. The sentinels on the walls of 
Zion are fast awaking from their slumbers. 
The gospel banner is unfurled and is wav- 
ing gloriously on the breeze. The Church 
is standing on the field she has won, and is 
ready to shout victory. Methinks the 
saints above are now ready to strike their 
golden lyres ; and whenever victory shall 
perch on the banner of Zion's King, they 
will send a pulsation of mighty joy through 
the highest heavens, which reverberating 
thence from all sides, the eternal temple 
will ring, and the rising, swelling anthem, 
will reach out to creation's further side, and 
the inhabitants of the holy city will catch 
the hallowed flame, and prolong the joyful 



80 THE HOLY CITY TRODDEX DOWN. 

strain, while angels will give to their "lutes 
of lucid gold" a tone of louder harmony, 
and all creation be filled with one vast, 
blessed jubilee. Surely, my readers, 
gratitude should engross all our powers, 
for the prospect, and every power we 
possess should be used to bring about this 
period, when 

"Jesus shall hare dominion 

O'er river,, sea, and shore, 
Far as the eagle's pinion, 

Or dove's light wing can soar.** 

Here we rest our subject until the next 
Lord's day, when we shall, God permitting, 
resume the subject again. Think upon 
what we have said, and may it act as an 
incentive in leading you to consecrate 
yourselves anew to the service of the good 
Being. 

u Come, let us with a grateful heart ; 

In the blest labor share a part; 
Our prayers and offerings gladly bring, 
To aid the triumphs of our king," 



LECTURE III. 



IJrojjjjtsgittg of tljt Mihums. 



LECTURE III. 



THE PROPHESYING OE THE WITNESSES. 

And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they 
shall prophesy a thousand and two hunderd and three score 
days, clothed in sackcloth. — Kev. ii, 3. 

God has always had his witnesses in 
the world. In the various vicissitudes 
through which the Church has been called 
to pass, there never was a time when the 
Church was entirely extinct; even Elijah, 
when he looked out upon Israel's forsaken 
altars, was assured that seven thousand 
had not bowed the knee to Baal, nor kissed 
his image. 

In the context we have a representation 
of the melancholy state of the Christian 
world during the reign of anti-Christ. The 
true worshipers of God are such a small 
number that they might easily be measured 
with a reed like unto a rod; while the 
externals of worship and the .dignitaries 



84 PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES. 

and emoluments of the Church, are gen- 
erally in the possession of men who have 
no Christianity but the name. They tread 
the holy city under their feet; they make 
the holy things of God the means of 
gratifying their worldly ambition. They 
make religion a kind of ladder, by which 
they ascend into influence and power 
among mankind. 

But during this time of general and 
prevailing iniquity, God has promised to 
raise up and continue in the world a few 
who will bear testimony to his truth. "I," 
says God, "will give power unto my two 
witnesses, and they shall prophesy a 
thousand two hundred and three score 
days, clothed in sackclock." 

There are three things to which we shall 
call your attention in the investigation of 
the subject brought to view in the words 
of the text. 

1. What are tve to understand by the 
tvitnesses ? 



PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES. 85 

2. The time of their prophesying and 
death 

3. Their resuscitation, and the conse- 
quences which followed. 

1. What are we to understand by the 
witnesses ? In regard to the witnesses, a 
number of opinions have been entertained. 
Some have said they mean the Protestant 
and Greek Churches ; others, the Old and 
New Testament ; others, the Old and New 
Testament Churches ; others, Christ and 
John the Baptist; others, Pope Sylvester 
and Mena ; others, John Hussand Luther; 
others, the Waldenses and Albigenses; 
others, the true ministers of the gospel. 
This last view seems to quadrate with the 
sentiments expressed in the context. They 
are the true ministers of the gospel, and 
individuals of every class who stand up in 
defense of the truth. They are said to be 
clothed in sackcloth, because they grieve, 
and mourn, and lament over the follies, 
and vices, and infatuations of mankind, 
and because they are everywhere hated, 



86 PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES. 

and opposed, and persecuted. These are 
the two witnesses, and the two golden 
candlesticks standing before the God of 
the whole earth. Here an allusion is 
made to the prophecy of Zechariah. The 
Prophet beheld in a vision, a golden candle- 
stick similar to that which was placed in 
the temple. It had a bowl upon the top 
of it, seven lamps, and seven pipes to con- 
vey the oil to the lamps; and there were 
two olive trees, one upon the right side 
and the other upon the left side of the 
bowl. When the prophet inquired, " What 
were those two branches which through 
the golden pipes emptied themselves," 
he was told, "that they were the two 
anointed ones, that stand before the Lord 
of the whole earth." Here, then, we see 
i most significant and striking representa- 
tion of the true ministers of the gospel. 
The churches are the candlesticks, and the 
ministers are the olive-trees that pour out 
the oil for the light. They exhibit the 
truths of the gospel to the minds of their 



PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES. 87 

audience,, and these truths are a constant 
source of illumination, both to them and 
the world around thorn. It is in this 
sense that Christians are said to be " the 
light of the world, a city set upon a hill 
that cannot be hid." 

For the better understanding of our 
subject, we will give the wording of the 
prophecy touching the witnessss: "When 
they shall have finished their testimony, 
the beast that ascendeth out of the bot- 
tomless pit shall make war against them, 
and shall overcome them, and kill them. 
And their dead bodies shall lie in the 
street of the great city, which spiritually 
is called Sodom and Egypt, where also 
our Lord was crucified. And they of the 
people, and kindred, and tongues, and 
nations, shall see their dead bodies three 
days and an half, and shall not sutler their 
dead bodies to be put in graves And 
they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice 
over them, and make merry, and shall 
send gifts one to another; because these 



88 PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES. 

two prophets tormented them that dwelt 
on the earth. And after three days and 
an half, the Spirit of life from God entered 
into them, and they stood upon their feet; 
and great fear fell upon them which saw 
them. And they heard a great voice 
from heaven, saying unto them, Come up 
hither. And they ascended up to heaven 
in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. 
And the same hour was there a great earth- 
quake, and the tenth part of the city fell, 
and in the earthquake were slain of men 
seven thousand; and the remnant were 
affrighted, and gave glory to the God of 
heaven." It is obvious that this language 
is highly figurative. The great city is no 
particular city upon the earth, but means 
every part of the world where anti-Christ 
prevails. The prophecy relates chiefly to 
the ten kingdoms which are called the 
"ten horns of the beast," and it is well 
known that although they do not all at 
this time acknowledge the jurisdiction of 
the Church of Rome, yet the spirit of 



PROPHESYING OP THE WITNESSES. 89 

anti-Christ has a powerful influence through- 
out every one of them. Any kind of 
spirit that sets up itself against the au- 
thority and government of Jesus Christ, 
is the spirit of anti-Christ. 

God calls them his two witnesses because 
two are necessary to establish a fact in 
evidence, Matt, xviii, 16. And we find 
that God frequently commanded that two 
should be joined in their commission: 
Moses and Aaron in Egypt. In the apos- 
tasy of the ten tribes, Elijah and Elisha 
were true witnesses. Christ sent forth his 
disciples, "two and two;" and it is a re- 
markable fact that in the days of the 
Reformation, the reformers appeared in 
pairs, as the Waldenses and Albigenses, 
John Iiuss and Jerome of Prague, Luther 
and Calvin, Cranmer and Ridley. These 
were witnesses of the truth. But 

2. The time of their prophesying and 
death. It is said to be, one thousand two 
hundred and three score days. There is 
some difficulty in fixing the precise time 



90 PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES. 

when their prophesying commenced. The 
strong probability is, that it commenced 
about the period when the "man of sin " 
was exalted; as God after declaring through 
John that the holy city should be trodden 
under foot " forty and two months," imme- 
diately adds, " and I will give power unto 
my two witnesses," &c. From which we 
may infer that the treading of the city and 
the prophesying of the witnesses would 
commence about the same period. There 
is, however, one distinction to be ob- 
served in the investigation of this subject. 
That the prophesying, and the giving of 
solemn testimony, are two different things; 
and both words are used with respect to 
the witnesses. Hence, it is said when they 
shall have finished their testimony, the 
beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless 
pit shall make war against them, and shall 
overcome them, and kill them. They 
bore their solemn testimony to the truth 
from the time that the little horn cast it 
down to the ground, until all Europe was 



PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES. 91 

aroused by the voice of Luther, and the 
Pope was made to tremble on his polluted 
throne at Rome. For ten centuries sin 
seemed to triumph over holiness; false- 
hood over truth; and vice over virtue. 
But during all this dark period to the 
Church, there were witnesses for the truth 
in the persons of different individuals; and 
as they were called "from earth away/' 
others were raised up in their stead, and 
thus a few were kept by the power of God 
who were as the salt of the earth. But 
they were slain at last, and the animosity 
of their enemies was not satisfied at their 
death merely, but was seen in the disre- 
spect shown to the bodies of the witnesses 
after death. The two witnesses in the 
persons of different individuals bore testi- 
mony in a most solemn and serious man- 
ner for the truth until the sixteenth 
century dawned upon the world, and lifted 
upon the Church the Star of Hope, then, 
their testimony ceased; or, Hhey finished 
their testimony as to themselves. They 



92 PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES. 

were few in number, but two. Now, the 
period had come when the number of wit- 
nesses should be increased. Like some 
mighty constellation that bursts from the 
east at the hour of midnight, the Reform- 
ers appeared, and at a time moreover, 
when the sinking Church needed their 
courage and their prayers, a time when 
moral darkness was almost total, and like 
that of Egypt could seem to be felt. It 
would not be the small number of two, 
who would now testify for God. Sin, 
however, increased, and the power of the 
beast thereby was enhanced, and he made 
war against the witnesses and killed them, 
and they remained dead three days and a 
half, or prophetically, three years and a 
half. And then the Spirit of life from 
God entered into them, and they stood 
upon their feet. I will close this second 
head by inserting in this place a portion 
of the notes of A. Barnes. The reader 
will remember that it was after they had 
finished their testimony they were killed, 



* PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES. 93 

and not after they had ceased prophesying, 
for they were to prophesy 1260 years. 
After they were brought to life, they pro- 
phesied as before, but their position was 
then different; they were called up to 
heaven in the sight of their enemies, by 
which we are to understand their elevation 
in respect to the Church, and the effects 
which followed were enough to convince a 
slumbering world of the truth of which 
they bore their most solemn testimony : 
' there was a great earthquake.' 

The object in quoting from Mr. Barnes 
is to show when the witnesses were slain, 
and how it was done : " Now it happens 
that there was a point of time, just previous 
to the Reformation, when it was supposed 
that a complete victory was gained over 
those who were regarded as 'heretics,' but 
who were, in fact, the true witnesses for 
Christ. That point of time was during 
the session of the Council of Lateran, 
which was assembled A. D. 1513, ami 
which continued its sessions to May 10. 



94 PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES. 

1517. In the ninth session of this council, 
a remarkable proclamation was made, indi- 
cating that all opposition to the Papal 
power had now ceased. The scene is thus 
described by Mr. Elliott (ii, 396, 397): 
'The orator of the session ascended the 
pulpit; and amidst the applause of the 
assembled Council, uttered that memorable 
exclamation of triumph — an exclamation 
which, notwithstanding the long multiplied 
anti-heretical decrees of Popes and Coun- 
cils, notwithstanding the yet more multi- 
plied anti-heretical crusades and inquisito- 
rial fires, was never, I believe, pronounced 
before, and certainly never since. Jam 
nemo reclamed, nuttus ohsistit? ' There is 
an end of resistance to the Papal rule and 
religion ; opposers there exist no more; ' 
and again, ' The whole body of Christen- 
dom is now seen to be subjected to its 
head, i. e. to Thee.'' " This occurred May 
5, 1514. It is, probably, from this time 
that the three days and a half, or three 
years and a half, during which the dead 



PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES, 5(J 

bodies of the witnesses remained unburied 
and were exposed to public gaze and 
derision, are to be reckoned. 

But it was with remarkable accuracy 
that a period of three years and a half 
occurred from the time when this procla- 
mation was made, and when it was sup- 
posed that these witnesses were dead, to 
the time when the voice of living witnesses 
for the truth was heard again, as if those 
witnesses that had been silenced had come 
to life again ; and " not in the compass of 
the whole ecclesiastical history of Chris- 
tendom, except in the case of the death 
and resurrection of Christ himself, is there 
any example of the sudden, mighty, and 
triumphant resuscitation of his Church 
from a state of deep depression, as was 
just after the separation of the Lateran 
Council exhibited, in the protesting voice 
of Luther, and the glorious Reformation." 
All accounts agree in placing the beginning 
of the Reformation in A. D. 1517. The 
effect of this, as compared with the sup- 



96 PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES. 

posed suppression of heresy, or the death 
of the witnesses, and as an illustration of 
this passage before us will be seen from 
the following language of a writer in the 
Encyclopedia Brittanica : " Everything 
was quiet; every heretic exterminated: 
and the whole Christian world supinely 
acquiescing in the enormous absurdities 
inculcated in the Romish Church, when, 
in 1517, the empire of superstition re- 
ceived its first attack from Luther." Or, 
in the language of Mr. Cunningham: "At 
the commencement of the sixteenth cen- 
tury, Europe reposed in the deep sleep of 
spiritual death, under the iron yoke of the 
Papacy. There was none that moved 
the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped ; 
when suddenly in one of the universities 
of Germany the voice of an obscure monk 
was heard, the sound of which rapidly 
filled Saxony, Germany, and Europe itself; 
shaking the very foundations of the Papal 
power, and arousing men from the lethargy 
of ages." 



PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES. 97 

"The remarkable coincidence in regard 
to time — supposing that three years and 
a half are intended — will be seen from the 
following statement. The day of the 
ninth session of the Lateran Council, when 
the proclamation above referred to was 
made, was, as we have seen, May 5, 1514; 
the day of Luther's posting up his thesis 
at Wittenberg (the well known epoch of 
the beginning of the Reformation) was 
Oct. 31, 1517. "Now from May 5, 1514, 
to May 5, 1517, are three years ; and 
from May 5, 1517, to October 31 of the 
same year, 1517, the reckoning in days 
is as follows : 



May 5, 31 . 


.27, 


August 31 . 


. 31 


June 30 . 


. 30, 


Sept. 30 . 


. 30 


July 31 . 


. 31, 


October 31 . 


. 31 



In all 180, or half of 360 days, that is 
half a year; so that the whole interval is 
precisely to a day three and a half years.' 
Elliott, ii, 402, 403. 

No wonder that Pope Hadrian, in his 



98 PKOPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES. 

address to the Diet at Nuremberg, used 
the following emphatic language : " The 
heretics Huss and Jerome are now alive 
again, in the person of Martin Luther." m . 

We are now to examine, in the next 
place, 

3d. Their resuscitation, and the conse- 
quences which followed. After the dead 
bodies of the witnesses had received the 
scorn, contempt, and derision of their 
enemies, and the delectable spirit of those 
who hated the witnesses, began to evince 
itself in the way of sending "gifts one to 
another," the spirit of life from God 
entered into them, and they stood upon 
their feet, "and great fear fell upon them 
which saw them." The reader will be 
kind enough to notice the difference 
between testimony and evidence. Web- 
ster says, "testimony differs from evidence; 
testimony is the declaration of a witness, 
and evidence is the effect of the declara- 

*This view of the subject accords with that of John dim- 
ming, D.D. 



PROPHESYING OP THE WITNESSES. 99 

tion on the mind, or the degree of light 
which it affords." It was the effect that 
followed the bold and fearless declaration 
made by the reformers who were witnesses, 
that shed a brilliant light in their day. 
The centurion may have had his scruples 
whether this may not be the Son of God, 
but it was not until after the earthquake, 
which immediately followed the death of 
Christ, that he was forced to say, " Truly 
this was the Son of God." "And the 
same hour was there a great earthquake, 
and the tenth part of the city fell, and in 
the earthquake were slain of men seven 
thousand." This was the effect which 
followed the resuscitation of the witnesses. 
The most respectable commentators that 
have written upon this subject, give it as 
their opinion, that the tenth part of the 
city means one of the ten kingdoms whose 
power and strength were given to the 
beast; and for the fulfillment of the pro- 
phecy referred to under the terrible image 
of an earthquake, we must ascertain if 



100 PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES. 

there is to be found in history any circum- 
stance in which any one of the ten king- 
doms ever fell. If this can be done, then 
another proof springs up before us. The 
expression " same hour/' need not be 
insisted upon very accurately, as all 
governments rise or fall in proportion to 
their magnitude. 

Commentators differ as to what is to be 
understood by the "tenth part of the city/' 
in its fall. We think it may be applied to 
Spain. It is a well known fact, that no 
kingdom was ever more favored in the 
support of this monster of iniquity than 
the kingdom of Spain. That government 
has always been the most strenuous sup- 
porter of the Romish hierarchy, and the 
most bitter persecutor of the Church of 
God. There, torrents of the blood of 
martyrs have flowed, and the persecutors 
have even boasted of their cruelties. There, 
every attempt at a free and honest decla- 
ration of the truth has been branded with 
the odious appellation of heresy, and the 



PROPHESYING OP THE WITNESSES. 101 

offender consigned to the horrors of the 
Inquisition. 

And yet Spain, at the commencement 
of the Reformation, possessed what could 
not be said of Italy, a noble, high minded 
people, who were religiously inclined. 
Her locality was such as might have 
rendered her independent of Rome. It 
was remote and isolated ; and her distance 
from the scene of Reformation makes it 
evident that she would be affected but 
little by it in the commencement. There 
was no country where a revival of true 
and vital piety could have been expected 
so much as in Spain. From her should 
have emanated that principle of Chris- 
tianity which they had at first received 
perhaps from the Apostle Paul himself. 
She willingly rendered a servile obedience 
to her priests. The priests on the other 
hand had in their possession the treasury ; 
they also ruled in the peninsula. When 
avarice and ambition had carried the arms 
of Rome into the heart of Spain, they 



102 PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES. 

found the soil in many places pregnant 
with silver and gold. A mine adjacent to 
Carthagenia yielded twenty thousand 
drachms of silver every day. Astoria, 
Gallicia, and Lusitania, yielded twenty 
thousand pounds of gold annually. From 
which source a large revenue was poured 
into the treasury at Rome. She gave her 
power and strength to the beast. They 
equipped fleets and went to destroy the 
good work of the Reformation. But the 
nations attacked by them were elevated, 
and Spain, by their united efforts, was 
eventually crushed. 

But, as Spain has been foremost in the 
cruelties of persecution, so God, with her, 
has commenced the work of vengeance. 
Seldom has there been a more striking 
accomplishment of prophecy than in the 
dreadful downfall of Spain. Raised to a 
high pinnacle of honor among the nations of 
the earth by the spirit of liberty and 
emancipation generated among her sons, 
rejoicing in the prospect of a free govern- 



PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES. 103 

merit to be handed down to future genera- 
tions, she has sunk to the lowest state of 
degradation and wretchedness. There is 
scarcely to be found in the records of 
history, a similar account of a nation 
having such fair and splendid prospects of 
prosperity, and such elevation of charac- 
ter among the nations of the earth, which 
has had those prospects more rapidly 
blasted, or has fallen deeper into misery. 
There was a period in the history of Spain 
when she was without a rival. She was at 
the head of the European powers; her 
military prowess was acknowledged. Por- 
tugal was added to it, together with many 
settlements in the East Indies — the com- 
merce of those regions increased their naval 
power. Italy, with all her princes, the 
Pope, and even the court of Rome, were 
measurably reduced to subjection under 
Philip. "The Austrian branch in Ger- 
many, with their dependent principalities, 
was closely connected with him, and was 
ready to supply him with troops for every 



104 PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES. 

enterprise." With all these advantages 
she reached the climax of her glory. She 
felt her greatness. Philip, chagrined 
under his repulses in the Netherlands, 
determined to attack England in order to 
avenge himself on Queen Elizabeth, for 
the aid she rendered the Hollanders, who 
made a successful defense in favor of the 
principles of Protestantism. Nothing 
less than a complete reduction of England 
again to the domination of Rome, would 
satisfy him. Philip was a bigoted, cruel 
Catholic; he persecuted the people of God 
in a most inhuman manner. 

At the time he purposed in his heart to 
avenge himself on Elizabeth, Spain had 
reached the summit of her glory. Immense 
preparations were made, says one, "in all 
parts of Sicily, Naples, Spain, Portugal; 
artizans were employed in building vessels 
of uncommon size and force; naval stores 
were bought up at great expense; provi- 
sions amassed ; armies levied and quartered 
in the maratime provinces, and plans laid 



PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES. 105 

for such an embarkation as had never 
before appeared on the ocean. The military 
preparations in Flanders were no less for- 
midable. The troops from all quarters 
were every moment assembling to 
re-inforce the duke of Parma, who em- 
ployed all the carpenters he could procure 
in building flat-bottomed vessels to trans- 
port into England an army of thirty-five 
thousand men assembled in the Nether- 
lands." Thus was fitted out by labor and 
great expense, what was proudly styled 
the Invincible Armada, and which was 
deemed of sufficient strength to strike a 
successful blow upon England. There 
was not even a question raised as to the 
issue. This formidible armament was 
consigned to the command of Marquis of 
Santa Grace, a sea officer of great celebrity; 
and who would dare, under all the seemingly 
favorable circumstances, whisper a doubt 
as to the success that would attend them. 
Spanish and Italian noblemen embarked as 
volunteers, in order to share in the glory 
7 



106 PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES. 

of so great a conquest. The fleet sailed 
in 1588. They approached the shores of 
England, "coming full sail, disposed in the 
form of a crescent, and stretching the dis- 
tance of seven miles, from the extremity 
of one division to that of the other." 
This was, perhaps, the most powerful fleet 
that ever sailed upon the ocean. The 
hearts of brave men trembled for the 
fate of England. But God 

" Who rules on high, and thunders when he please, 
That rides upon the stormy sky, and manages the seas," 

sent a mighty gale, by which many of the 
Spanish vessels were wrecked, and only 
about one half were permitted to return 
home. Not a Spaniard was permitted to 
set his foot upon the soil of England. The 
destruction of this vast and formidable 
armament, was accomplished almost with- 
out the aid of any human being whatever. 
" Afflavit Deus et dissipantur"* 

* This was an inscription caused to be struck on medals by 
Queen Elizabeth, commemorating this signal deliverance of 
Providence. 



PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES. 107 

Thus, the visionary schemes of Philip 
vanished like smoke. The expectations 
that soared so high were blasted. From 
this period Spain began to sink; her 
career has been downward. She lost one 
province after another, until she is now, as 
it were, reduced to beggary. Her own 
civil wars have rent and torn her asunder, 
and now she has but a name to live. Thus, 
the very kingdom that tried to check the 
progress of the Reformation at last fell, 
and her fall may well be represented by 
the image of an earthquake. Sable night 
has covered her with a mantle of gloom. 
The sun of her glory went down amidst 
the gloom and shame of human blood. 

The defeat of the Invincible Armada 
led the priests to assert that the defeat 
was owing to the fact that the Moors were 
permitted to live among them, and conse- 
quently they were driven out of the coun- 
try, and thus the most industrious, and 
useful inhabitants were banished. Another 
cause of her awful decline. She began to 



108 PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES, 

sink, and sink until Ichobad might with 
propriety be written on her banner. 

The image or representation of this 
dreadful calamity is taken from one of the 
most terrible convulsions of nature. Noth- 
ing upon earth can be more tremendous 
than an earthquake. When the earth shakes 
and tremble s, when the foundations of the 
hills are moved, when villages and cities 
and all their inhabitants sink into the 
abyss, it is a most awful exhibition of the 
wrath of God. Hence, such images are 
frequently used by the prophets to signify 
the moral convulsions by which govern- 
ments are overturned. A moral earth- 
quake is that kind of revolution by which 
the moral establishments of nations are 
broken up, their political institutions over- 
turned, and the w 7 hole nation thrown into 
confusion and dismay. Such has been 
the earthquake which has shaken to its 
center this tenth part of the cily, and 
turned the whole land into a scene of 
devastation and ruin. There is something 



PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES. 109 

remarkable in the phraseology of this pre- 
diction, and which makes it still more 
evident that this event was intended. The 
literal rendering of the prophecy is, "there 
were slain in the earthquake, names of 
men seven thousand." This evidently 
signifies a large number of the most emi- 
nent characters in the nation. It is pre- 
dicted that the judgments will chiefly fall 
upon men of name, rank, dignity, and 
power. This has been remarkably the 
case in the judgments on Spain. In com- 
mon wars the calamity falls chiefly upon 
the lower classes of society; but here the 
judgment has fallen chiefly upon the men 
of name, of eminence in the nation. 
Scarcely a doubt can exist in the minds 
of those who investigate the subject with 
intelligence and candor, that the dreadful 
judgments on Spain are the accomplish- 
ments of this remarkable prophecy. 

Another proof, my hearers, that we are 
approximating the millennium. With 
these facts before us, we can arrive at no 



110 PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES. 

other conclusion than that great moral 
revolutions are shortly to transpire. Every 
opposition will be crushed beneath the 
gigantic wheels of the blood-stained car 
in which the Redeemer is riding in 
majestic and terrible triumph through a 
conquered empire. A good reason, my 
friends, why we should aw T ake out of sleep, 
and put on the armor of light, and go forth 
conquering and to conquer, until Christ, by 
the united voices of two worlds, shall be 
proclaimed universal king. 

The nearness of the millennium is no valid 
reason why we should relax our energies, 
or grow cold and indifferent to religion, 
but it is a reason why our intellectual 
faculties and physical energies should find 
their purest and noblest, and invigorating, 
and energetic employment in this work : 
because a great work is to be done, and 
but little time in which to do it. And if 
you refuse to consecrate all your powers 
to this w r ork, God will confer upon others 
the honor of being co-workers with him 



PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES. Ill 

the Sovereign and Saviour of all, in plant- 
ing the standard of the cross on the isles 
of the sea, and over the whole surface of 
the globe. The whole must and will be 
accomplished, and it will be executed 
through human instrumentalities. " Bring 
forth therefore fruits meet for repentance ; 
And think not to say within yourselves, 
We have Abraham to our father ; for I 
say unto you, that God is able of these 
stones to raise up children unto Abraham." 
As much as if he had said, the time has 
now come when, for the accomplishment of 
his own purposes, God will have a faithful 
and industrious people through whom this 
work is to be performed. And if you are 
unwilling to engage in it, He will raise up 
others if it must be done by a miracle. 

Think not that you are placed in this 
world simply to buy and get gain; but a 
work is to be done by every adult person 
before me. Each of you, my hearers, are 
links in the great chain of human existence. 
And there is not an individual in this 



112 PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES, 

assembly — no matter how much obscurity 
may surround him — whose existence does 
not stir a ripple gyrating outward and 
inward in its concentric circles, until it 
reaches across the whole ocean of God's 
eternity, setting in motion the river of 
life, and the crystal fountain where ten 
thousand mighty angels drink. Why, then, 
should you suffer these ft golden moments" 
to "glide swiftly away/' without improving 
them to the glory of God, and the best and 
most enduring interests of the undying 
soul in this world and in the world beyond 
the stars. 

Angels, my hearers, would gladly for a 
season lay down their golden harps, and 
leave the hallelujahs of heaven, to become 
the honored instruments of bearing the 
messages of mercy to fallen humanity. 
But God has seen fit to select you and I, 
as the bearers of the "blessed Gospel" to 
the world. And shall w T e refuse to engage 
in a work that would draw from the skies 
the brightest and tallest of the first-bom 



PROPHESYING OF THE WITNESSES. 113 

sons of light, if lie were permitted sc 
to do? 

May you aid by your prayers and your 
offerings in this work of love; and may 
you be permitted to share in the unprece- 
dented honors of that day, when the voices 
of untold millions will proclaim in tones of 
thunder, and sweet as the music of the 
spheres, the inauguration of Heaven's 
King over the vast universe of God; and 
this earth become 

" A cathedral boundless as our wonder, 
Whose quenchless lamp the sun and moon supply ; 
Its choir the winds and waves, its organ thunder, 
Its dome the sky." 



LECTURE IV. 



%\t (%rt| In |)efer, a §ml, mfc f 0Jw. 



LECTURE IV. 



" And knowledge shall be increased." — Dan. xii, 4. 

The Church, as an organic whole, may 
be considered as having been very fitly 
represented in the persons of the three 
great Apostles, Peter, Paul, and John. 
Not, however, in any power delegated to 
them abstractly; nor in any authority in 
the Church over the rest of the Apostles, 
or with other members of the mystical 
body of Christ. But the Church as a con- 
crete whole has been shadowed forth by 
the spirit that characterized them, while 
they lived on these mundane shores after 
their conversion to Christianity. 

Peter was a bold, courageous, undaunted, 
fearless disciple of Christ. No hostility 
could check his ardor — no obstacle arrest 



118 THE CHURCH 

his progress. He is distinguished from 
the other Apostles by a fiery, excitable, 
choleric, sanguine temperament. He was 
characterized by a bold self-reliance, prompt 
readiness for action, and a considerable 
talent for representation and church gov- 
ernment. By his excitable and impulsive 
nature he was very easily led to a false 
estimate of his own powers; which accounts, 
perhaps, for his denial of the Lord. In 
depth of knowledge and the principle of 
love he doubtless falls short of Paul and 
John; and he was not so well prepared on 
this account for the business of completion. 
His talents were admirably adapted for 
the business of beginning, or for the first 
formation of religious enterprises. 

He was never able to conceal his inmost 
nature ; it comes everywhere involuntarily 
light, and consequently we become thus 
better acquainted both with his virtues 
and his faults from the evangelical narra- 
tive than we are with the other Apostles. 

On several occasions, when the other 



IN PETER, PAUL, AND JOHN. 119 

disciples began to yield to a feeling of 
discouragement, Peter stood forth, and 
rallied their sinking hopes. Once, espe 
cially, the concourse of followers whom 
Christ had collected around him withdrew, 
and the Apostles themselves had secretly 
formed the same design. But this illus- 
trious man, unmoved by the terrible array 
of threatened persecution, remained by his 
deserted Master. "Lord," said he with 
his usual characteristic warmth, " to whom 
shall we go? Thou hast the words of 
eternal life, and we believe, and we are 
sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of 
the living God." Read his biography, 
and you will find a constellation of most 
noble qualities. Sanguine in his hopes, 
bold in his plans, and fearless, not to say 
impetuous, in the work of the ministry. 
A bold, decided fidelity to the Saviour 
embodied itself in all his cod duct after his 
restoration, and if after this period he had 
a fault other than the common frailties of 
nature, it was his impatience at the meek 



120 THE CHURCH 

and gradual advance of Christianity. 
He wished to push it forward with a zeal 
proportioned to its real claims, and a cor- 
responding violence with that which op- 
posed it. In his eagerness for the accom- 
plishment of this purpose, he manifested 
a strong desire to lead the little band of 
Christians againat their blood-thirsty ene- 
mies. And if Christ had resorted to the 
use of the sword in establishing his reli- 
gion, there can be no doubt but intrepid 
Peter would have brandished his sword for 
the conflict. He would have kept the 
field at all hazards till he was a conqueror 
or a corpse. When the motley crowd 
came out from Jerusalem with swords and 
staves to seize the person of Christ, Peter, 
not daunted at their approach, drew his 
sword, attacked them single-handed, and 
had he been permitted, would have re- 
pelled them, or perished in the attempt. 
He smote oif the ear of the servant of the 
High Priest, evincing in the strongest 
manner the spirit by which he was gov- 



IN PETER, PAUL, AND JOHN. 121 

erned. Each of the Apostles, possessed 
his own peculiar qualification conferred not 
by inspiration, but by nature, which the 
Holy Ghost subsidized into the service of 
Christianity. But a few hours or days 
after the crucifixion of the Son of God, 
before the blood on the Cross was dried, 
we behold this fearless man preaching 
Jesus and the resurrection to the very 
people who had imbued their hands in 
innocent blood. He hesitates not to re- 
mind them of their cruelties to the Saviour; 
and charges them with murdering the 
Redeemer, and with all the energy of his 
soul urges them to apply the blood of 
Christ to the cleansing of their sins, and 
thus be fitted for heaven. 

At one time, with unbecoming familiarity 
and unconscious presumption, he admin* 
isters a rebuke to Christ, and tried to dis- 
suade him from the course of suffering 
which was requisite for the redemption of 
the world. At another time, his high- 
minded modesty leads him to make him- 
8 



122 THE CHURCH 

self wiser than his Master: "Lord, dost 
thou wash my feet ? Thou shalt never 
wash my feet ! " From all these peculi- 
arities brought to view in the biography of 
Peter, it is obvious that he was disposed 
to build up his Master's cause by coercive 
means if necessary. A bold, stern, un- 
daunted spirit characterized this illustrious 
man through his whole life, which the ter- 
rors of the cross could not abate. 

Peter represents the Church under the 
Romish Hierarchy. It is a principle incor- 
porated in her very nature to propagate 
her sentiments by coercive means. For 
those who refused to comply with her re- 
quirements, however unjust they were, 
there was the blazing faggot, or the cell of 
the barbarous Inquisition. The only way 
to stop the progress of Protestantism, and 
thus save their own Church, was the use 
of the most hellish instruments of torture 
that wicked men could devise. 

This is not fiction, nor is it a whim of 
the imagination. It is sober reality. It 



IN PETER, PAUL, AND JOHN. 123 

is unvarnished truth. It comes to us con- 
firmed by the voice of history; and the 
individual who asserts any thing to the 
contrary, either betrays his ignorance of 
history, or involves himself in the charge 
of imbibing selfish principles respecting 
his own desired ends. 

The condition of the Pope at this time 
is very precarious : there is no nation to 
whom he can look for succor with any 
degree of certainty : for this very reason, 
the days of the Romish church are nearly 
numbered — a strong proof that her suc- 
cess and existence depends exclusively 
on coercive measures. But, now Christ 
says to them, through the person of Peter, 
"put up thy sword into the sheath." 

It is an interesting fact, that some of 
the kingdoms and countries hitherto held 
by Catholic power, are becoming more and 
more alienated from the domination of 
Rome. Sardinia, comprising the north- 
western part of Italy, is gradually throwing 
off the restraints of the Romish Church. 



124 THE CHURCH 

South America, and Brazil, particularly, 
is becoming more and more favorable to 
religious liberty. Even degraded Spain 
is beginning to cherish a ray of hope. 
There is a waking up in our own beloved 
country among the members of the Romish 
communion. The passage of the " Church 
Tenure Bill," by the Legislature of the 
State of New York, has produced quite a 
sensation, and many thousands of Roman 
Catholics, in several States, have been very 
decided and earnest in demanding the 
passage of a law preventing the title of 
their Churches from being invested in the 
hands of the Bishops. 

It is self-evident that the career of the 
Romish Church is nearly run. She is 
tottering to the fall. Her name is Ichabod, 
and soon "the kings of the earth, who have 
committed fornication and lived deliriously 
with her, shall bewail her, and lament for 
her, when they shall see the smoke of her 
burning, standing afar off for fear of her 
torment, saying, Alas ! alas ! that great city 



IN PETER, PAUL, AND JOHN. 125 

Babylon, that mighty city ! for in one hour 
is thy judgment come." She is passing 
away, and Paul stands before us as the 
next fit representative of the Church. 

Paul was the most profound scholar in 
the infancy of the Church. All the other 
apostles were unlearned. They had little 
or no knowledge of letters and philosophy. 
In order to the success of the Church, it 
was necessary that some one be selected 
whose acquaintance with the arts and 
sciences and the various branches of learn- 
ing, might enable him to combat with 
Jewish doctors and Pagan philosophers. 
The person chosen for this purpose was 
Saul of Tarsus, a virulent enemy to the 
Christians, who possessed an invincible 
courage, which led him to persecute the 
saints of God even unto death. 

He was a man of good education and 
fine classical learning. He became ac- 
quainted with Latin and Greek literature 
in his native place, and was then sent to 
Jerusalem where he entered a school of 



126 THE CHURCH 

great celebrity; gifted with eminent talents, 
with creative genius, and a rare keenness 
and energy of intellect, he made himself 
master of the whole extent of Rabbinical 
learning; having for his preceptor the 
celebrated Gamaliel, who, according to the 
Jewish Talmud, was styled "The glory of 
the law." His proficiency here was so 
great, that he was elected, even while a 
student, to a seat in the Sanhedrim. His 
learning included jurisprudence, as w 7 ell as 
theology, and the various modes of inter- 
preting the Bible — allegory, typology and 
tradition — as his epistles abundantly dem- 
onstrate. By the knowledge he acquired 
in these respects, he was fully armed and 
equipped for the defense of the doctrines 
of the cross in which he so much after- 
wards gloried, and upon w 7 hich he imme- 
diately entered after the Spirit of God 
changed the direction of the powers of his 
master mind. By it he was enabled to 
unfold the doctrinal contents of Christianity 
in a solid and complete manner. Nor did 



SN PETER, PAUL, AND JOHN. 127 

he fail to refute with most wonderful skill 
the errors of the Pharisees. He accom- 
modated himself to the character of his 
hearers ; when addressing a Jewish assem- 
bly, he would quote from the Prophets ; 
when addressing a Pagan audience, he 
quoted from their poets, Aratus (Acts xvii, 
28), from Menander (1 Cor. xv, 33), and 
from Epimenides (Tit. i, 12). With his 
mind stored with the richest gems of nature, 
with an extensive knowledge of the arts, 
he went forth propagating the doctrines of 
the cross; and although he was a man of 
infirm health, and of a very unpleasant 
hesitancy of enunciation, yet we find him 
commanding respect from every audience, 
and in every circle. Infidelity withered 
under his eye; wit shrunk from the dignity 
of his frown; and the decorated insolence 
of office trembled before him, even while 
he stood a criminal at its bar. 

It is impossible to read his epistles with 
candor, or even with care, without discover- 
ing a correct, profound, and comprehensive 



328 



THE CHURCH 



mind. It is true he wrote by inspiration ; 
but this only shielded him from error ; he 
was left, as was every other inspired person, 
with his own peculiarities of style and 
thought. 

His course of reasoning is different from 
all the other New Testament writers. He 
is more nervous, more forcible ; reasoning 
seems to have been more his object. There 
is something in all his epistles which shows 
us what his education had been ; purity of 
language, and correctness of conception, 
which we can easily see, was entirely 
original with him. In many parts he is 
highly eloquent, particularly where he 
was called to defend himself in public. 
Nothing but his talents could have pro- 
duced the prodigious effects which fol- 
lowed his discourses. True, the Spirit 
applied what he said. Yet, he most assu- 
redly was one of the most remarkable 
men that ever had an existence. " Much 
learning," said one of his judges, " doth 
make thee mad." Much learning indeed 



IN PETER, PAUL, AND JOHN. 129 

the apostle had ; but it was a very different 
man who had the madness. 

His mighty mind seems to have under- 
stood the principles of Christianity more 
perfectly than any of his cotemporaries. 
There is but one point upon which he did 
not enter ; with all his profound erudition, 
to him it was incomprehensible ; "great is 
the mystery of godliness : God manifested 
in the flesh;" and on that subject he has 
warned us not to enter into a controversy 
respecting it: " without controversy, great 
is the mystery of godliness, 55 &c. It is 
not to be wondered that Paul could not 
understand the mystery ; angels them- 
selves cannot comprehend it; and who can 
tell but the investigation of this very sub- 
ject will constitute in, part at least, the 
enjoyment of saints in "that better land. 55 
"Angels, 55 we are told, "desire to look 
into it; 55 and if they manifest so strong 
a desire to look into a matter from which 
they can derive no advantage, so far as 
redemption is concerned, why may not the 



130 THE CHURCH 

saints who are saved by this great mystery, 
desire to look into it, and learn, if possible, 
the mystery connected with their ever- 
lasting salvation. 

Paul stands before us as the representa- 
tive of the present age, of the world, and 
the Church as connected with it. No 
previous period in the history of the w r orld 
ever witnessed such wonderful develop- 
ments in relation to the arts and sciences 
And at no previous period was there such 
an unwonted ambition to become acquainted 
at least with the rudiments of useful know- 
ledge. Learning heretofore had been 
confined to but few nations, and then only 
to a few individuals of those nations. 
Now there is something approximating a 
universal diffusion of knowledge in every 
department in life. 

"It is but a few years since the literary 
trumpery of Paganism — the Koran of 
Mahommed, the Targums and Talmuds of 
the Jews, and the nonsensical traditions, 
legends and ghostly tales of Romanism, 



IX PETER, PAUL, AND JOHN. 131 

engrossed nearly all the learning in the 
world. Truth stood alone. She sighed 
in vain for any to do her reverence. His- 
tory, Philosophy, Geography, Physics, 
Metaphysics and Theology, were unknown, 
except as dimly seen, befogged and mys- 
tified in the sacred books of paganism. 
Socrates fell a martyr to true science. The 
Copernican system of the heavenly bodies 
at a much later date, was condemned as a 
heresy, by the sapient Inquisition of the 
seventeenth century ; and Galileo, for 
certain astronomical discoveries made by 
his newly constructed telescope, and which 
went to confirm the Copernican heresy, 
was condemned by the same ghostly court, 
to all the horrors of perpetual banishment, 
and forced to purchase- his liberty by 
retracting his opinions. 

Virgilious, archbishop of Salzburg, was 
excommunicated by the Church of Rome, 
and Spegelius, archbishop of Upsal in 
Sweden, suffered martyrdom at the stake 
for entertaining the theory of the spherical 



132 THE CHURCH 

form of the earth. The discoveries and 
signal advances made in science by the 
immortal Bacon, were believed by his 
ignorant cotemporaries to be the works of 
magic. But the infernal chain is now 
measurably broken ; man is intellectually 
emancipated ; there is freedom of thought, 
freedom of research, and full scope given 
to all the inventive and acquisitive powers 
of mind. 

Late advancements in science have 
vastly facilitated all the operations of life, 
and thrown open to the unrestricted range 
of the mind, fields of immeasurable know- 
ledge. Astronomy has brought within 
the scope of our intellectual vision bound- 
less fields, all radiant with starry gems, 
which, when plied with telescopic aid 
become a resplendent galaxy of worlds, all 
fitted up for the habitation and happiness 
of immortal beings like ourselves." 

The world is fast rolling on to wonderful 
scenes. The times are serious and even 
ominous. God is arising to shake in a 



IN PETER, PAUL, AND JOHN. 133 

most terrible manner the nations. A 
grand work of preparation is going on in 
the world. Are we not now living in the 
times long ago predicted by the prophets ? 
"Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge 
shall be increased. The chariots shall rage 
in the streets, they shall justle one against 
another in the broad ways ; they shall 
seem like torches, they shall run like the 
lightnings." Surely the mental ray of 
these prophets was purged. They beheld 
the nineteenth century passing before their 
visions, as a grand panorama. 

The power of steam is made the 
servant of man. It is used to print his 
thoughts ; then, as on the wings of the 
wind, it hurries away to disseminate those 
thoughts through the world. And thus, 
has fallen humanity been lifted from the 
dust, and shown the true and certain way 
to lasting happiness and eternal peace. 

We are told that the whole New Testa- 
ment can be printed in one minute ! What 
increased facilities for spreading knowledge 



134 THE CHURCH 

do we possess over our progenitors. In 
the beginning of the present century, had 
some one stepped forward and predicted 
all these new and most astonishing dis- 
coveries and inventions, it Would have 
been pronounced visionary. And yet all 
this is realized. But man has been unwill- 
ing to stop here, he has reached forth his 
hand to grasp the lightning that plays 
around the eternal throne, and has made it 
do his bidding. Go my servant, haste 
away, and over hill, and mountain, valley 
and sea, bear this message to my friend, 
— go, and in less than a moment return 
again with an answer. The message starts 
and time itself is left behind. How we 
are amazed! It would seem as if we were 
approaching very near the presence-chamber 
of the Eternal. 

Again, is there is not a literal " run- 
ning " in these days? What a stir among 
the nations ! How they crowd upon us 
from the old world — about three hundred 
thousand annually! Every ship comes 



IN PETER, PAUL, AND JOHN. 135 

freighted with men, women, children, and 
merchandise. And what running amongst 
ourselves ! East, west, north, and south, are 
to be seen men and women running, one 
moment here, and the next moment 
yonder. On our steamboats, we speak of 
" running " ten, fifteen, and twenty miles 
an hour. And on our railroad cars, we 
talk of running thirty, forty, fifty, and 
sixty miles an hour. Is it not a remarka- 
ble fact that our fastest running trains are 
called " lightning trains ? " Surely, the 
prophet Nahum could not have used more 
appropriate language in predicting railroads. 
Could any man who has been permitted to 
see with his natural eye our railroad trains 
as they whirl away through many an ample 
curve and sweep, have described it in a 
more beautiful and sublime manner than 
did the prophet Nahum over two thousand 
five hundred years ago? "They shall 
seem like torches, they shall run like the 
lightnings." 

The world is advancing. The eyes of 



136 



THE CHURCH 



men are being opened, and there is to be 
seen wherever man goes, an unprecedented 
sensibility to all that pertains to the hap- 
piness of the race. Is there a vice that 
afflicts humanity? It is at once attacked, 
and treated as an enemy of the race. Does 
persecution, superstition, ignorance, and 
oppression impede the progress and happi- 
ness of man? A philanthropic spirit is sud- 
denly roused, and fired with indignation 
at once, and authoritatively demands re- 
dress, the expulsion and decapitation of 
the dreaded foe. 

By the advancement of the science of 
theology, new light has been educed from 
the sacred page. The principles of inter- 
pretation are being better understood ; 
and for this reason, the Bible has been 
made to shed a more brilliant light on our 
pathway. The truth is, learning of all 
sorts is to an unprecedented extent made 
to be subservient to the cause of truth. 

Eloquence, history, poetry, literature, 
science, philosophy, and the arts, are all 



IN PETER, PAUL, AND JOHN. 137 

made to subserve the purposes of adorning, 
defending, enriching, and embellishing the 
truth. Even the war between liussia and 
the allied forces of France and Great 
Britain may be largely subservient to the 
diffusion of revealed truth. It is carrying 
back amid the tumult of arms, that light 
to the East, which first arose there, but 
from which superstition and tyranny have 
long banished it. All wars, since the 
birth of history, we may safely assert, have 
been propagators of principles, and have 
pushed forward the human race a stage in 
their onward progress. The Macedonian 
conquests rudely shivered the stately but 
stereotyped forms of oriental government 
and religion, and helped to diiFuse Greek 
literature and taste over Asia. 

Truth, we say, is advancing. Prophe- 
cies are fast fulfilling. New modes of 
operation are discovered and put into exe- 
cution; and they have been found to be 
in accordance with the principles of the 
Bible. Sabbath schools, what a powerful 
9 



138 THE CHURCH 

means are they in the hands of the 
Church in disseminating truth ! How they 
flourish, how they spread! In Europe 
and America ; in Asia, that metropolis of 
idolatry ; in Africa, the empire of degra- 
dation ; from Canada to New Holland ; 
from Ceylon to the West Indies; from 
Nova Scotia to the Cape of Good Hope, 
they have multiplied their trophies. We 
may ask, where is the continent on which 
they have not been organized ? Where 
the people not visited by their blessed 
influence ? What island of what sea, if 
inhabited by man, has escaped the eye of 
their benevolence? Indeed, where are 
Sabbath schools not to be found? The 
south, far beyond the islands of spice, cries 
out, " They are here! " Up in the ever- 
lasting snows of the north, a voice from the 
frigid zone responds, " They are here ! " 
The oriental, looking out upon the dark 
waters of the Euxine, and over the deep, 
blue waves of the Mediterranean, repeats, 
"Even here, aie Sabbath schools!" From 



IN PETEK, PAUL, AND JOHN. 139 

the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean, ten 
thousand voices cry, "We are here!" 
God has planted, and reared, and blessed 
them. They are as a great moral univer- 
sity where the candidates for immortal 
honors are educated in all the accomplish- 
ments of immortal truth and virtue. They 
have reclaimed the Sabbath; they have 
purified society ; and doubtless they will 
be hailed in the great day of eternity by 
multiplied thousands as the instrument of 
their salvation. 

Everything tending to advance the 
cause of truth is now seized with avidity, 
and appropriated to this purpose. Every 
drop of motive power that floats within 
the reach of human talent, is collected to 
swell the current of influence, on which 
the perishing millions are borne towards 
the ark of salvation. How great the 
amount of talent that can now, at a mo- 
ment's warning, be called to the defense of 
the truth ? It is now, more than at any 
previous period, that literature is conse- 



140 THE CHURCH. 

crated to Christian purposes, and assumes 
its just proportions. It is destined to be 
the moon of the millennial world, but from 
Revelation as from a great moral sun will 
take all its outlines — its graceful curves 
and the perfection of its circle, 

"As earth keeps up her jubilee one thousand years." 

Again, who needs to be informed that 
the Church is, at this very time, actively- 
engaged in carrying out the leading trait 
of the Apostle Paul. He was emphati- 
cally a missionary; he went from place to 
place, intent on building up his Master s 
cause. If this illustrious man had done 
for the Roman Empire, what he did for 
Christianity, I know not but he would 
have been enshrined, and immortalized in 
monuments of marble or of brass. Take 
the map — trace the route of his travels; 
count the churches he formed, and the 
converts he made, and you will say at 
once, he was a missionary in the strictest 
sense of the term. 

In planting the standard of the Cross, 



IN PETER, PAUL AND JOHN. 141 

he engrossed all his time and talents. He 
plunged into the midst of idolatry, and 
preached Jesus and the resurrection. He 
made the Areopagus ring with the news 
of mercy. Not deterred from the blessed 
work of missions by persecution or 
threatened death, he continued to cry, 

"Behold the Lamb." 

By his intrepid zeal and love for souls, he 
expounded the great truths of Christianity 
in the presence of the most learned men 
of his age; having arrested their attention 
he would pour into their minds the truth 
like a flood of light, while his auditors 
were filled with the greatest wonder, and 
thus won for himself a name I would 
rather wear than all the stars and crowns 
that deck the monarch's brow, or the 
mitres that ambition ever coveted or sub- 
jection bestowed. 

Now, my hearers, let me ask, is not the 
Church in her different branches at this 
time exhibiting this prominent trait of the 
Apostle's. The subject of missions is 



142 THE CHURCH 

emphatically the work of the Church in 
modern times; she regards it as such, and 
consequently her influence has been felt 
in this direction. There is, evidently, a 
disposition on the part of the Church to 
put forth increased efforts, with a view of 
enlarging the borders of Zion, that the 
geographical limits of the earth alone may 
be the boundary line of the Church, or in 
the words of the poet as better expressed, 

" Till earth's remotest nation 
Has learned Messiah's name." 

How many minds have been enlightened 
by this work? How many hearts made 
glad? How many tears has it wiped from 
sorrow's eye? How many upon whom 
the gorgon eye of vice was fixed until 
they were petrified and frozen into flint, 
have melted under the genial rays of the 
Sun of righteousness? By our soul-loving 
missionaries, what a heavenly effulgence 
has been carried, I was about to say, all 
over this dark world? How many places 
have been made to "bud and blossom as 



IN PETER, PAUL AND JOHN. 148 

the rose?" Surely the Sun of righteous- 
ness has arisen to the zenith of the moral 
heavens, and from him what overwhelming 
rays of truth flash out on this sin-cursed 
world. Wherever the gospel tidings 
spread, Satan's throne is broken, his 
kingdom subverted, and every blow dealt 
alarms the prince of hell, and shakes the 
pillars of his dreary domain. Every 
wave that rolls brings us news of fresh 
and glorious conquest of truth over error. 
Again, he was converted in a most 
singular manner. The very suddenness 
of his transition from bigoted Judaism to 
the inspired faith of the Son of God, 
reveals to us the peculiarity of his position 
as Apostle to the Gentiles and representa- 
tive of the most free and evangelical 
conception of Christianity. It seems to 
have been but a short work of the Spirit, 
and Saul was changed from nature to grace, 
from a most virulent persecutor of the 
Church to one of its most zealous and 
faithful defenders. The members of the 



144 THE CHURCH 

infant Church, having had a knowledge of 
his previous history, and the malignant 
disposition he manifested towards the 
Church, made them, even after his conver- 
sion, suspicious of the change said to be 
wrought in him. I look upon the sudden 
change in Paul respecting his religion, as 
shadowing forth the sudden changes that 
have already taken place, and that will yet 
take place in a still more powerful manner 
among the nations; I mean a change from 
idolatry to the true worship of God. May 
not his miraculous conversion serve to 
remind us also, of the prophecy respecting 
the rapid increase of the Church just 
before the millennial era. "A nation shall 
be born at once." And may not the 
suspicion of the little Church remind us of 
the feeling now manifested and frequently 
urged as an objection to the near approach 
of the millennium, "that so many nations 
are yet in heathenish darkness;" and if, 
says the objector, "the millennium is 
so near, a wonderful change must be 



IN PETER, PAUL, AND JOHN. 145 

wrought, and but little time to do it in." 
We reply, Paul, representing this period, 
was suddenly converted. And prophecy 
declares that "a nation shall be born at- 
once;" and this prophecy, doubtless, will 
be fulfilled before many years. 

John, my hearers, may be regarded as 
the representative of the Church during 
the millennial period of the world. He 
was mild, amiable and lovely, — supposed 
to be the youngest of the Apostles, and 
was the last taken to his reward. By his 
amiable manners, and the sweetness of 
his disposition, he won for himself the 
endearing appellation, " beloved disciple." 
— "That disciple whom Jesus loved." 
When the supper was instituted he lay, 
the contemplative, self-communing disciple, 
in mysterious silence upon the bosom of 
his Lord. He seems to have had more 
familiarity with Christ than any of the 
disciples. When on the isle of Patmos 
he had such a view of heaven as filled 
him with wonder and amazement. lie 



146 THE CIIUROH 

was denominated the " beloved disciple/ 5 
and the Church as shadowed forth by him 
is emphatically styled the " beloved city/' 
Rev. xx, 9. Love during the millennium 
will be the predominating principle in the 
hearts of the major part of the human 
race. 

It will manifest itself in a practical way 
in the lives of men. A new impulse will 
be given to philanthrophy. Projects will 
be devised for relieving indigence, suffer- 
ing and want. Every thing oppressive 
will be removed ; for 

" Prone to the earth oppression shall be hurled, 
Her name, her nature withered from the world." 

John became endeared to the Saviour 
through his unbounded love for him, so 
will the Church become endeared to the 
Redeemer by her warm attachment for 
him, and hence, will "live and reign with 
Christ a thousand years." The Church 
is denominated u the bride, the Lamb's 
wife." 

John was appointed the confidential 



IN PETER, PAUL, AND JOHN. 147 

prophet of the New Testament and to 
him was unfolded the future history of the 
Church. After the death of Peter and 
Paul it devolved on him, properly and 
alone, with his genius to complete the 
full history of the Church until the final 
winding up of everything bearing the 
index of earth. The whole scene passed 
before him as a thrilling and even gorgeous 
panorama. In his rapt vision, he saw the 
coming splendor ; and rising glory ; and 
spreading grandeur of the Church down to 
the final winding up of all things terres- 
tial. He saw the death of the enemies 
of the Church, — the resuscitation of the 
witnesses — the chaining of the dragon — 
the thousand years reign of peace, — and 
the ending of the world. Now, what 
appeared to him in a vision, will be unto 
the Church a blessed reality;— and what 
to him was seen away in the future, will 
to the Church shine out with peerless and 
dazzling splendor. Rapt in the heave ns 
on the Lord's day, he beheld the unutter- 



148 THE CHURCH. 

able glory of his Lord, and received the 
communication of his plans to an extent 
that was unrevealed to all the world 
beside. 

So with the Church all her plans will 
not only be seen, but will be carried by 
her into execution, and the beauties sur- 
rounding the Church will not be away in 
the future, but the kingdom of Christ will 
be in the very midst of it. 

The nature of the millennium will be 
presented more fully in my last lecture ; 
with these thoughts I here rest the subject 
for the present ; urging you at the same 
time to go from this place ever singing in 
your hearty 

"Hasten, Lord, the glorious time 

When beneath Messiah's sway, 
Every nation, every clime, 

Will the gospel call obey. 
Highest kings his power shall own, 

Heathen tribes his name adore ; 
Satan and his host o'erthrown, 

Bound in chains shall hurt no more." 



LECTURE V. 



(wperste aito @at|eriiq of % |tfos. 



LECTURE V. 



Thus saith the Lord ; Behold, 1 will take [the children of 
Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and 
will gather them on every side, and bring them into their 
own land. — Ezekiel, xxxvii, 21. 

One marked indication of the signs of 
the times, having reference to the near 
approach of the millennium, is the shaking 
among the dry bones of the Jews. The 
hand of God is actively engaged in pre- 
paring them for restoration to the land of 
their fathers, and a return of them to the 
favor of God. 

The Jews have a history of intense 
interest. God honored them from their 
beginning — granted them a rich and 
beautiful country — conducted them thither 
by his own strong arm — the sea divided 
and Jordan rolled back its mighty waves 
— the rock became a pool; their garments 
lasted forty years, and the angel Jehovah 



152 DISPERSION AND GATHERING 

led them through the dark labyrinths and 
dangers of the desert. God signalized the 
whole way by monuments of his goodness 
— preserved them two thousand years 
amidst the commotions of a most revolu- 
tionary period — made them the depositories 
of his grace for the world. 

The Jews, however, became rebellious, 
and their flagrant acts of impiety incurred 
the displeasure of God; and drew down 
upon themselves and posterity the vindic- 
tive wrath of the Deity. The prophecies 
respecting this unfortunate race have been 
so completely fulfilled; that the proof of 
the divine authenticity of the scriptures 
resolves itself in one short familiar word, 
and that word is Jew ; To the faithful 
reader, prophecy respecting the Jews, 
together with the knowledge of their 
history, is sufficient evidence to his mind 
that the Bible is true. 

From the words of the text we may lay 
down the following propositions : 

1. To examine the prophecies respecting 



OF THE JEWS. 153 

tfie Jews in the judgments predicted; and 
also their fulfillment as far as they have 
been accomplished* 

2. Examine the prophecies haviny refer- 
ence to their return to their own land, as 
also a return of them to the favor of their 
God. 

3. Deduce some inferences from the 
same, indicating the near approach of the 
millennium* 

1. We tvill examine the prophecies re- 
specting the Jews in the judgments pre- 
dicted; and also their fidfillment as far as 
they have been accomplished. In order to 
this we have selected from the Bible such 
scriptures as have a direct reference to 
their dispersion among the nations of the 
world, showing at the same time the dire 
evils that should befall them. " The Lord 
shall scatter thee among all people from 
the one end of the earth even unto the 
other; and there thou shalt serve other 
gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers 
10 



154 DISPERSION AND GATHERING 

have known, even wood and stone. And 
among these nations shalt thou find no 
ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot 
have rest; but the Lord shall give thee 
there a trembling heart, and failing of 
eyes, and sorrow of mind. And thy life 
shall hang in doubt before thee ; and thou 
shalt fear day and night, and shalt have 
none assurance of thy life. I will scatter 
you among the heathen, and will draw out 
a sword after you ; and your land shall be 
desolate, and your cities waste. And 
upon them that are left alive of you, I 
will send a faintness into their hearts in 
the lands of their enemies ; and the sound 
of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and 
they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; 
and they shall fall, when none pursueth. 
And ye shall have no power to stand be- 
fore your enemies. And ye shall perish 
among the heathen, and the land of your 
enemies shall eat you up. And the Lord 
shall scatter you among the nations, and 
ye shall be left few in number among the 



OF THE JEWS. 155 

heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you. 
Thou shalt become an astonishment, a 
proverb, and a by-word among all nations, 
whither the Lord shall lead thee. All 
these curses shall come upon thee, and 
shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till 
thou be destroyed: because thou heark- 
enedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy 
God ; and they shall be upon thee for a 
sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed 
forever. I will cause them to be removed 
into all kingdoms of the earth. I will 
cast you out of this land into a land that 
ye know not, where I will show you no 
favor. I will scatter them also among the 
heathen, whom neither they nor their 
fathers have known. I will deliver them 
to be removed into all the kingdoms of 
the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach 
and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all 
places whither I shall drive them. I will 
bereave them of children. I will deliver 
them to be removed to all the kingdoms 
of the earth, to be a curse, and an aston- 



156 DISFERSION AKD GATHERING 

ishinent, and an hissing, and a reproach 
among all the nations whither I have 
driven them. I will sift the house of Is- 
rael among all nations, like as corn is 
sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least 
grain fall upon the earth. Death shall be 
chosen rather than life by all the residue 
of them that remain of this evil family, 
which remain in all the places whither I 
have driven them, saith the Lord of hosts. 
They shall be wanderers among the nations." 
What heinous sin was it that could be 
the cause of such dreadful calamities? 
Can any other be assigned than what the 
scriptures assign? Christ, who was able 
to look into the future, saw the lowering 
storm gathering, and the dreadful judg- 
ments about to be poured upon them. He 
gazed upon the great city, his eye affected 
his heart, and his heart affected his tongue, 
and he uttered the words : " Jerusalem, 
Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and 
stonest them that are sent unto thee; 
how often would I have gathered thy 



OP THE JEWS. 157 

children together, as a hen doth gather her 
brood under her wings, and ye would not ! 
Behold, your house is left unto you deso- 
late. And verily I say unto you, ye shall 
not see me until the time come when ye 
shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the 
name of the Lord." 

The time of Israel's affliction came. 
The golden crown was hurled from his 
head ; the robes fell from off his shoulders; 
the scepter departed from Judah, and he 
became as contemptible, weak, ignonlinious 
and poor, as he had been previously hon- 
ored, rich, and powerful. Not a jot or 
tittle uttered against the Jews shall go 
unfulfilled. Their miseries commenced 
when they rejected the Son of God. 
The individual who signed his death war- 
rant, signed the death warrant of the whole 
nation. From that time their sky became 
dark. The sun of their glory went down ; 
and they were pealed and scattered through 
all the world. 

We have given the prophecy respecting 



158 DISPERSION AND GATHERING 

the Jews. Let us inquire what is their 
history. Have any of those terrible pre- 
dictions uttered against them been ful- 
filled ? "All the predictions respecting 
the Jews are delivered with the clearness 
of history and the confidence of truth. 
They represent the manner, the extent, 
the nature, and the continuance of their 
dispersions, their persecutions, their suffer- 
ings, their blindness, their feebleness, their 
fearfulness, and their faint-heartedness, 
their ceaseless wanderings, their hardened 
impenitence, their insatiable avarice, and 
their grievous oppressions, and their mur- 
ders." 

At the destruction of Jerusalem a most 
terrible scene was witnessed. At the 
Passover, when there were perhaps two 
million of people in the city, the Romans 
surrounded it by a circumvalation, which 
with astonishing activity, was effected by 
the soldiers in three days ; so that it was 
impossible for any to make their escape. 
Titus, who was one of the most merciful 



OF THE JEWS. 159 

generals that ever grasped a sword, touched 
by their calamities, entreated them to 
surrender; but they refused. He also 
sent Josephus to advise them to surrender, 
who earnestly entreated them to do so; 
but the Jews answered him with nothing 
but reproaches and imprecations, declaring 
their firm persuasion that God would 
defend the city, and that it should neve'r 
be taken. 

Thus was fulfilled, what had been pre- 
viously predicted that the Jews would in 
the time of their calamities presumptuously 
lean upon the Lord and say, "Is not the 
Lord among us? None evil can come 
upon us ! " Josephus delivered to them 
a long address, but could not prevail upon 
them to accept of what was reasonable. 
Titus in the meantime erected bulwarks, 
and made other preparations to storm the 
third and last wall that surrounded the 
city so that the Jews might repent of their 
obstinacy. But all was in vain, the decree 
had gone forth that Jerusalem must be 



160 DISPERSION AND GATHERING 

destroyed. Titus, after viewing the heavy 
calamities which the Jews were now 
enduring was moved to sympathy, but 
knew it was the judgment of God, and 
was apprehensive if he did not chastise 
them that God would chastise him. After 
making every reasonable overture to them, 
all of which were rejected, he became 
exasperated at their obstinacy, and 
resolved to take the city. The siege 
lasted about six months, and the city was 
taken. I suppose greater calamities never 
befell any people in so short a time. No 
city ever perpetrated greater deeds ; and 
no city ever suffered such affliction. 
Thousands were slain, and when they 
could no longer bury them, they were 
thrown over the wall with a view of terri- 
fying the Romans by their stench. The 
people fed upon one another. The scene 
of suffering is beyond description. The 
city, temple and all, was laid in ruins. In 
respect to the destruction of the city and 
the temple, there was a most remarkable 



OF THE JEWS. 161 

fulfillment of prophecy. It runs in this 
wise, "The people of the prince that shall 
come, shall destroy the city and the sanc- 
tuary." Who is this prince but Titus 
who did all in his power to save the city 
and the temple. " When they had gotten 
within the walls of the city/' Josephus 
says, "they were seized with a kind of 
frenzy, and, hurling firebrands upon that 
magnificent edifice, it was, with the city, 
soon laid in ruins." You will be kind 
enough to notice the accuracy of the pre- 
diction ; not the prince, but the people of 
the prince shall destroy the city and the 
sanctuary. Titus aimed to save the tem- 
ple, and commanded the soldiers to extin- 
guish the fire ; but it was all of no avail. 
Amidst his exertion to prevent the 
destruction of the temple, a Roman 
soldier, urged, as he declared, by divine 
impulse, regardless of the command of Titus, 
climbed on the shoulders of another, and 
threw a flaming brand into the golden 
window of the temple, by which it was 



162 DISPERSION AND GATHERING. 

instantly set on fire. Thus terminated 
the glory of one of the most splendid 
edifices that was ever erected. From its 
stupendous size, its massiveness and soli- 
dity, one would have supposed it would 
withstand the most violent attacks. But 
it was predicted otherwise, and the pre- 
dictions must be fulfilled. Nothing 
remained except three lofty towers, Mari- 
amne, Phasael, and Hippocas, which Titus 
commanded should remain as evidences 
of this great city, and as trophies of his 
victory. 

Thus many were killed. The hand- 
somest of the young men were reserved 
to grace the triumphant entrance of Titus 
into Rome. Others with their wives and 
children were sold like cattle, but at a very 
low price. Thirty of them were sold at 
one time for a penny; and thus was 
fulfilled the words of prophecy uttered 
many years prior to this period, by Moses : 
"And ye shall be sold for bondmen and 
bondwomen, and no man shall buy you." 



OP THE JEWS. 1G3 

Some of the Roman officers remained after 
the conquest of Jerusalem, and subdued all 
Judea, and took possession of all their 
fortified places. The first place secured 
was Maehurentha, the place where the 
faithful John was beheaded. The blood of 
that good man still cried for vengeance. 
Some three thousand Jews were slain in 
the woods of Jardes, to which place they 
had resorted for safety. At the siege 
of Massada, Eleazar, the commander, 
instructed the garrison to burn their stores 
and to destroy first, the women and chil- 
dren, and then themselves. And this 
horrible command was executed. The 
number was about nine hundred and sixty. 
Ten persons were selected to perform the 
bloody deed; when this was done, one was 
then appointed to kill the remaining nine. 
The last surviving one, beholding the slain 
weltering in their gore, plunged the sword 
into his own heart and died. 

At Cesarea twenty thousand Jews were 
killed by the Syrians. At Damascus, ton 



164 DISPERSION AND GATHERING 

thousand more were destroyed. At 
Alexander, fifty thousand were killed. At 
Jerusalem, it is supposed one million one 
hundred thousand Jews perished by sword, 
famine, and pestilence. In the war brought 
against them by Adrian for their cruelties 
against the heathens and Christians, about 
sixty thousand Jews were slain. In the 
sixth century, it is supposed twenty 
thousand were slain, and an equal number 
carried away and sold for slaves. In the 
tenth and eleventh centuries their calami- 
ties rather increased than diminished. In 
France vast numbers were burned. At 
the coronation of Richard I, of England 
many were murdered. One thousand five 
hundred were burned to death in the 
palace of York. In Persia, they were 
murdered in multitudes. In Portugal and 
Spain they met with cruel treatment. In 
the fourteenth century about eight hundred 
thousand were banished from Spain; some 
met a watery grave in their passage to 
Africa; others died by hard usage, and 



OF THE JEWS. 165 

numbers lay upon the fields till they were 
devoured by wild beasts. I suppose it 
would be no exaggeration to say that two 
millions two hundred thousand Jews have 
been put to death by the sword, famine, 
and pestilence. They said, "his blood be 
on us and on our children," and so it has 
been. 

They have also been scattered among 
the nations. This, we think, requires no 
proof. "They abound in Poland, in 
Turkey, in Germany, and in Holland ; in 
Russia, France, Spain, Italy, Britain, and 
America, Persia, China, and India. On 
the east and on the west of the Ganges. 
They have trod the snows of Siberia, and 
the sands of the burning desert; and the 
European traveler hears of their existence 
in regions which he cannot reach, even in 
the very interior of Africa." They are to 
be found every where. They are as the 
drop in the ocean, and yet not comming- 
ling with the surrounding waters. 

How true, also, that they have been the 



166 DISPERSION AND GATHERING 

objects of hatred. There is no name that 
seems to carry with it so much odium as 
the name Jew. It is associated with 
everything detestable. It is the index to 
all that is contemptible. They have been 
hated, may I not add, with cruel hatred. 
Have they not also become a proverb and 
a by-word. How common the expression, 
"close as a Jew." How familiar the 
sentence "rich as a Jew." In our dealings 
we meet with the language, "I Jewed him 
down." In our intercourse with each 
other how frequently do we hear it said, 
"take care of that man, he will Jew you." 
Surely it requires but little discernment 
to see the complete fulfillment of many 
portions of prophecies touching the Jews. 
But a brighter day is dawning. The 
Jews are not always thus to continue. 
Prophecy not only presents a dark, but 
also a bright side. And the signs of the 
times indicate the near approach of the 
long since predicted blessings for them. 
The great drama is yet in progress; a long 



- 



OF THE JEWS. ^167 

and melancholy interlude has interposed, 
and now "coming events cast their shadows 
before/' and indicate the termination ot 
the heavy afflictions of God's Israel. And 
the scene about to be exhibited will be 
more resplendent than any which pre- 
ceded it. 

The Jews, as a nation, are to be 
gathered into their own land, and to 
become a strong body politic. Palestine 
is the Lord's inheritance, reserved for the 
seed of Abraham, and into it shall they 
ultimately be gathered. 

A question has been raised respecting 
the nature of the fulfillment of prophecy 
having reference to the Jews. It has been 
asserted that there will be a spiritual ful- 
fillment exclusively without any reference 
to a literal gathering of them to their own 
land. And upon the other hand, it is 
maintained that there will be a spiritual 
and also a literal fulfillment. To deter- 
mine this question fully, my respected 
auditors, you need but inquire into the 



168 DISPERSION AND GATHERING 

nature of the fulfillment of prophecies thus 
far accomplished. Was it spiritual, or was 
it literal ? If spiritual, then it follows 
that those prophecies yet to be fulfilled, 
will also be spiritual. If however, there 
has been a literal fulfillment of prophecy 
touching the Jews, then it follows that a 
literal fulfillment will take place in regard 
to those prophecies yet to be accomplished. 
This will lead us, 

2. To examine the prophecies respecting 
their return to their own land, as also, a 
return of them to the favor of their God. 
We would remind you at this point, that 
it is our firm persuasion, that there will be 
a literal gathering of the Jews to their 
own land; keeping this thought in view, 
we will now proceed to the language of 
prophecy, and see how far they have been 
fulfilled. 

"And it shall come to pass in that day 
that the Lord shall set his hand again the 
second time to recover the remnant of his 
people." The first time implied in theso 



OF THE JEWS. 1G9 

words was when they were delivered from 
Egyptian bondage, and were led to the 
promise land, (Palestine,) "Which shall 
be left from Assyria, and from Egypt, and 
from Pathros, and from Cush, and from 
Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, 
and from the islands of the sea. And he 
shall set up an ensign for the nations, and 
shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and 
gather together the dispersed of Judah 
from the four corners of the earth. And 
it shall come to pass in that day, that the 
great trumpet shall be blown, and they 
shall come which were ready to perish in 
the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in 
the land of Egypt, and shall worship the 
Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem. 
Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that 
it shall no more be said, the Lord liveth, 
that brought up the children of Israel out 
of the land of Egypt. But, the Lord 
liveth, that brought up the children of 
Israel from the land of the north, and from 
all the lands whither he had driven them ; 
11 



170 DISPERSION AND GATHERING 

and I will bring them again into their land 
that I gave unto their fathers. I will 
accept you with your sweet savor, when I 
bring you out from the people, and gather 
you out of the countries wherein ye have 
been scattered. I will bring them out 
from the people, and gather them from the 
countries, and will bring them to their own 
land. And I will multiply upon you man 
and beast ; and they shall increase and 
bring fruit; and I will settle you after 
your old estates, and will do better unto 
you than at your "beginnings. Thus saith 
the Lord God ; In the day that I shall 
have cleansed you from all your iniquities 
I will also cause you to dwell in the 
cities, and the wastes shall be builded. 
And the desolate land shall be tilled. 
Whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all 
that passed by. The hand of the Lord 
was upon me, and carried me out in the 
Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the 
midst of the valley which was full of bones, 
and caused me to pass by them round 



OF THE JEWS. 171 

about ; and behold, there were very many 
in the open valley; and lo, they were 
very dry. And he said unto me, Son of 
man, can these bones live ? and I answered, 

Lord God, thou knowest. Then he 
said unto me, Son of man, these bones 
are the whole house of Israel ; behold, 
they say, Our bones are dried, and our 
hope is lost; we are cut off for our parts 
Therefore prophesy, and say unto them. 
Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, my 
people. I will open your graves, and cause 
you to come up out of your graves, and 
bring you into the land of Israel Behold, 

1 will take the children of Israel from 
among the heathen, whither they be gone, 
and will gather them on every side, and 
bring them into their owwland." 

This is prophecy. Let us inquire, what 
is history? The page of history is, at 
this time, sublimely interesting in refer- 
ence to the seed of Abraham. Every 
year brightens the signs that the time to 
favor Zion is near. The Spirit of God is 



172 DISPERSION AND GATHERING 

moving upon the face of the dark waters ; 
working out from discord and darkness, 
light and harmony; causing the shapeless 
mass to burst into efflorescence and beauty. 
An angel of mercy is seen walking on the 
troubled sea of Israel's afflictions, saying 
"peace, be still." God is evidently pre- 
paring the way for the return of the long 
lost Jew to his beloved Palestine. Men 
are beginning to feel that the Jews have 
rights ; and are acting upon this principle. 
The inveterate enmity hitherto imbibed 
against them is beginning to yield to the 
mild and gentle influences of the gospel. 
Napoleon Bonaparte has the honor of being 
the first to recognize Jewish rights. The 
German States, however, were the first to 
confer upon them the rights of citizens, 
and relieving them from the untold and 
unpitied wrongs of eighteen hundred years. 
How easily are our sympathies aroused 
in behalf of the Jew. Fifty years ago, 
every Jew throughout the world might 
have been destroyed, and little, or no 



OP THE JEWS. 173 

sympathy would have been manifested in 
their behalf. But now the scene is 
changed. Such is public sentiment touch- 
ing the Jew, and the feeling cherished in 
his behalf, that let the foot of oppression 
attempt to crush him, or the mouth of 
persecution undertake to devour him, and 
ten thousand voices would be raised in his 
behalf, and thundered forth in one united 
remonstrance. 

The cause of the Jew is now arresting 
the attention of men on both sides of the 
Atlantic. Meetings are held in some of 
the principle cities of the world; and at 
these meetings prayers are offered up to 
the God of heaven, that he would over- 
rule all for good. Petitions have been sent 
to Europe and the United States requesting 
these governments to make it the impera- 
tive duty of their respective Consular 
Agents in the East to urge on the Pacha of 
Egypt the importance of recognizing the 
Jews throughout the geographical limits of 
his dominion, as men who have rights as 



174 DISPERSION AND GATHERING 

well as his other subjects. These peti- 
tions are responded to favorably. 

Another marked indication in the signs 
of the times, is the attention which is 
beginning to be directed to the subject of 
restoring Palestine to its original beauty 
and fruitfulness. Meshullam, a Christian 
Jew, it is said, has met with great success 
in making experiments in introducing 
modern modes of agriculture into that 
country, and his establishment is becom- 
ing a center of great attraction. The 
most encouraging feature is the influx 
of Jews returning to the land of their 
fathers. As high as fifteen hundred arrive 
in Jerusalem in a single week. 

The example of Meshullam has proved 
contagious, and great results are destined 
to flow from it. The London Jewish 
Chronicle, a Journal conducted by the 
Jews, is earnestly directing attention to it, 
and a Jewish Association has already been 
formed in London to promote this object. 

According to Dr. Cumming, " in the age 



OP THE JEWS. 175 

of Constantine the Great, there were just 
five hundred Jews in Palestine, and two 
hundred in Jerusalem. In 1848, there 
were twenty thousand Jews in Palestine, 
and ten thousand in Jerusalem; and the 
mixed population is diminishing every 
day." 

Again, what vast numbers are being 
converted to Christianity. Mr. Thobuck, 
one of the brightest gems now living in 
the Church, and himself a Jew, and who 
has paid considerable attention to the 
history of his own people, gives it as his 
opinion, " that a greater number of Jews 
have been converted to Christianity during 
the last quarter of a century than in the 
eighteen hundred years which have pre- 
ceded it." Certainly a strong proof that 
they are on the eve of a great moral 
change, as well as a gathering together of 
them into their own land. 

A missionary from Constantinople, 
writes that the Jews in Constantinople are 
manifesting an unusual spirit of religious 



176 DISPERSION AND GATHERING 

inquiry. One of the principal Jews pays 
me an occasional visit, and sometimes the 
very first interrogatory I propound to him 
is, has he come? "Not yet," has been his 
reply, till his last visit, when laying his 
hand on his breast he said, in a low and 
solemn tone, "If you ask me, I say he 
has come; and if you will show me a 
secure place from the scimitar of the 
Moslem, I will bring you ten thousand 
Jews to-morrow who will make the same 
confession." 

We cannot, my hearers, but regard the 
Jew as on the eve, yea, in the midst of 
some mighty movement. There is, on 
their part, a singular preparedness for some 
great change. They are rich, and yet 
their wealth is all portable. The Roth- 
schild's who are celebrated for their wealth 
are the agents of this singular race of 
beings. Should certain Jewish capitalists 
suddenly withdraw their means, whole 
kingdoms would feel the effect. They ai e, 
morever, in a transition state, being 



OF THE JEWS. 177 

schooled in every nation on the globe in 
lessons of usefulness. They are, in a 
measure, at least, incorporated with the 
modes of thinking of all the nations 
whither they have gone. Living under the 
laws and governments of every nation 
under heaven, they will be able on this 
very account to construct a more perfect 
civil and church polity than the world has 
ever yet enjoyed. They have wealth; 
they have talent. Some of the most 
celebrated professors in the German 
universities are Christian Jews. And in 
the Church of England there are twelve 
ministers officiating who are Jews, and 
some of the missionaries employed by the 
Church of Scotland are converted Jews. 
They have enterprise, numbers, and influ- 
ence; and never did mortal eye rest in 
silent rapture upon a finer soil, and upon 
more luxuriant productions, when properly 
developed, than the land reserved far 
them, and into which they shall ultimately 
be gathered. 



178 DISPERSION AND GATHERING 

Another important consideration is the 
Turkish loan obtained from the Rothschild. 
This circumstance is highly suggestive. 
Every reflecting Christian must have had 
frequent thoughts of the Jews of Palestine, 
and of the promises and prophecies re- 
specting them in the Bible, during the 
dark, gloomy, thickening war plot between 
the Russians and the Allied powers. 
Such prophecies as the great battle of 
Armageddon- — the angel standing in the 
sun calling all the fowls of heaven to the 
feast of the great God — the treading of 
the wine-press without the city, and the 
blood coming to the horses bridles, are 
passages of Holy Writ which crowd up 
before the mind in awful grandeur, clothed 
with the idea of a possible fulfillment 
within a short time ! Palestine is the 
Lord's inheritance, reserved for the seed 
of Abraham. The Turkish power holds 
it. That power must give way before the 
plans of Divine Providence. And nothing 
is more certain than its overthrow. It 



OF THE JEWS. 179 

only stands now as it is propped up by a 
little doubtful political power. Who next 
will own Palestine ? Evidently the Jews. 
The world has wandered after the wealth 
of the Rothschild. They are Jews. And 
the question naturally arises, why has 
God raised them up, and placed in their 
hands an amount of wealth equal to many 
an entire kingdom? May it not be, my 
hearers, for such a time as this ? There is 
evidently a movement of Providence in 
this affair. The Turkish power, straitened 
for money to defend themselves against 
the aggressions of Russia, comes to one 
of these Jews to borrow* The Turkish 
power has been on the decline for years, 
her treasures are exhausted, they ask a 
loan at the hands of Rothschild. He asks 
a mortgage on Palestine, and on this con- 
dition agrees to advance more funds than 
Turkey asks. The Sultan, knowing that 
Palestine is one portion of his dominion on 
which the Emperor of Russia had fixed 
his covetous eye, that he might command 



180 DISPERSION AND GATHERING 

the Mediterranean and Red seas, as well 
as the mouths of the Nile, would the more 
readily mortgage it to Rothschild, in order 
to place it as far as possible from the 
enemy, and by this means Jhave it iden- 
tified with the interests of Western Europe; 
and in this way the more effectually to 
secure the aid of England and France, in 
the event Turkey is attacked by the Czar 
of Russia. The mortgage lies unredeemed 
— and can never be redeemed. The 
Turkish power is destined to go down- 
Palestine is once more the property of a 
Jew. But Russia seemed determined to 
have it, and to obtain it must fight all 
Europe ; and the last great conflict is on 
this sacred ground. There the wine-press 
was trodden without the city of Babylon. 
Palestine has always been in the posses- 
sion of the Saracens and Turks. New 
forms of government rise over all Europe, 
and the Jews are returning to their father- 
land under the deed of the Rothschilds. 
" The long and dreary winter of Jacob's 



OF THE JEWS. 181 

captivity seems to be nearly passed. The 
genial sun of the Divine favor is beginning 
again to shine, and to melt from their 
hearts the ice of ages. And soon we may 
expect the sons and daughters of Judah 
will take their harps from the willows, and 
in the sweet lays of their own poet, sing, 

' Lo the winter is passed, and the rain is over and gone, 

The flowers appear on the earth, 
The time of the singing of birds is come, 

And the voice of the turtle is heard in the land.' 

Symptoms of ever welcome spring appear 
— marks of resuscitation among the dry 
bones of Judah. And each revolving year 
shall witness new developments of the 
rising fctar of Jacob, till the kingdom shall 
be restored to David, and Judah shall 
again wear the crown, and bear the scepter, 
and Jerusalem become a joy and praise in 
all the earth." 

"How long, dear Saviour, oh how long 

Shall this bright hour delay ? 
Fly swiftly round, yo wheels of time, 

And bring the welcome day." 

Throughout many of the German states 



182 DISPERSION AND GATHERING 

the Jews have cast off the Talmud ; and 
in the city of London there is a synagogue 
where a Jew preaches without it, and re- 
jects it altogether. There is a general 
waking up of this long dejected and neg- 
lected nation. The Prussian ambassador 
at the Court of Rome states that there is 
a general movement and inquiry among 
all the Jews at this moment, and that 
measures will be taken to restore them 
soon to the land of their fathers. 

The Jewish mind is everywhere awake. 
At no previous history of theirs was there 
such an earnest spirit of inquiry. They 
are discussing among themselves with 
regard to the Talmud and Rabbinical tra- 
ditions. A large class of Jews in Germany 
have taken strong sides against the Tal- 
mud, and question its authority. In other 
places many have their confidence in the 
Talmud shaken. In France, Holland, 
Germany, Poland, and England, there is 
an abandonment of the Talmud on the 
part of many. The following declaration 



OF THE JEWS. 183 

was made in a Jewish synagogue in Lon- 
don, but recently: "We are happily 
emerging from the darkness into which 
persecutions of unparalleled intensity and 
duration had banished us. Our domestic, 
social, and political life is assuming a 
brightness, which we feel assured will be- 
come more and more cheering." ItMs 
also a remarkable fact, that nearly all the 
newspapers of Germany are at this time in 
the hands of the Jews, and controlled by 
them. A ready writer in speaking of this 
circumstance, says : "For better or for 
worse, they are on the move. Every 
month we hear the tidings of change. 
Old chains are being broken. Old opin- 
ions, associations, and observances are 
being abandoned. The harbor of Rabbini- 
cal Judaism is left. They must now 
eithor be piloted to the haven of truth, or, 
borne along for a time by every wind that 
blows, and be at length stranded on the 
shore of infidelity." 

Another fact which you yourselves 



184 DISPERSION AND GATHERING 

know, perhaps is, that the gold of all Eu- 
rope is so much in their hands that they 
can at almost any moment produce a panic 
in money matters. Why is it that they 
have little or no wealth in real estate ? 
Their riches, consisting as it does, of gold 
and silver, places them in a condition to 
go at any time when Providence shall 
order it. You do not find them engaged 
in any public improvements, these concern 
them but little. And while such improve- 
ments are being constructed they will only 
the more speedily place them in their own 
land. 

Sir Moses Montefiore, who is a leading 
Jew in England, went to St. Petersburgh 
with a view of negotiating with the Em- 
peror of Russia, that the Jews against 
whom a most inhuman edict had been 
issued, should be permitted to emigrate. 
He has been most graciously received, 
and the Emperor has given permission to 
ten thousand Jews to emigrate to Pales- 
tine. Lord Ashley, at a meeting of the 



OP THE JEWS. 185 

Jews' Society in London, said : "At no 
time has the horizon been so bright for 
the Jewish people. At no time prophecy 
so near its fulfillment. A year ago no 
imagination was lively enough to conceive 
one-tenth of what we have heard this day." 
Let me give the language of Rev. Mr. 
Bellson respecting the Jewish people : " I 
am more than ever/' says he, " impressed 
that the Jews are hastening to a great 
crisis. It must be evident to any common 
observer, there is a great movement among 
them. This wonderful people, who, for 
eighteen hundred years remained unaltered, 
have undergone a marvelous revolution 
within the last forty years, especially 
within the last twenty. They are in a 
transition state. Thousands, convicted of 
the hollowness and rottenness of Rabbin- 
ism, and therefore have thrown it oft', feel 
a vacuum in their souls, which Christian 
truth alone can fill. The Talmud is sinking 
fast, and its giving up the ghost cannot be 
far off" Such language speaks volumes, 
a2 



188 DISPERSION AND GATHERING 

especially when we consider from what 
source it emanates ; sentiments of this 
kind coming from the most intelligent 
Jews is certainly indicative of the near 
approach of the millennium. 

Finally, we have presented before us a 
panoramic view of the Jew as at present 
to be seen among the people. He has no 
home; no permanent place of residence; 
nothing to bind him here. No gorgeous 
palaces to be remembered as the old home- 
stead. He is indeed a wanderer among the 
people. See him where you will, and how 
dissatisfied his look. Every expression of 
his countenance is an index of the inward 
feelings of his heart; not satisfied any 
where ; sighing for the hills and valleys of 
Palestine, and for the holy hill of Zion, and 
his expectation of going thither, and his 
prospects of reaching it, as sanguine as 
were those who were carried away in the 
long and dreary captivity of the ancient 
Jews. Such are some of the facts that 
present themselves to our minds. \ They 



OP THE JEWS. 187 

merit our consideration, and if properly 
examined, will be a subject of interest to 
us all. Our last proposition announced in 
the division of our subject was, 

3. To deduce from the premises an 
argument respecting the near approach of 
the millennium. 

The facts presented surely warrant the 
conclusion that the time is at hand when 
the Father of all our mercies, will again 
smile on his wandering children. The arm 
of the Almighty is again made bear in the 
defense and deliverance of his ancient 
people. They are engraven on the palms 
of his hands. Pie is very kindly inviting 
them to return, and many, we have seen, 
are responding to the call. 

All things seem to be approximating a 
crisis of intense interest. We can draw 
no other inference, my hearers, from the 
condition of the Jews in the relation they 
sustain to the whole world. The time is 
at hand when all those who oppose the 
Divine plans in bringing together the dis- 



188 GATHERING OF THE JEWS, 

persed of Judah, shall be taken out of the 
way. Yes, Jerusalem shall be built, and 
God's name be honored in that land where 
Christianity first rose, but from whence it 
was driven by persecution. My friends, 
I believe most firmly that the Jews will be 
gathered to their own land, and that it will 
be accomplished before many years. And 
when this event shall have come, the 
millennium will then begin to dawn upon 
our dark world; and religion's golden 
chain will bind men to the throne of God, 
when hearts and voices will unite in one 
universal song of praise to the all-conquer^ 
ing Redeemer. 

But see! the watchman! Let us 
inquire 

" Watchman ! tell us of the night, 

What its signs of promise are ? 
Traveler ! o'er yon mountain height, 

See the glory-beaming star ! 

Watchman ! does its beauteous ray 

Aught of hope or joy foretell ? 
Trav'ler I yes it brings the day, — 

Promis'd day of Isr<ieV * 



JLKO TURE VI. 



%\t JUngbom of Cjrrist. 



LECTUHE VI. 



THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 

*' And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven 
set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed ; and the 
kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break 
in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand 
forever." — Daniel ii, 44, 

These are words of encouragement to 
the sincere lover of Zion. Although thev 
were uttered centuries ago, they are yet 
fraught with a sweetness that always flows 
from the promises, respecting the triumph 
and glory of the kingdom of Christ. 

They were uttered by Daniel in the 
presence of the king of Babylon, while 
interpreting a dream the king had in the 
second year of his reign. With this 
dream the king was exceedingly troubled. 
Although it had fled from his memory, 
"lac commanded to call the magicians, and 



192 TIIE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 

the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the 
Chaldeans, for to show the king his dreams," 
on pain of death. They remonstrate with 
him respecting the unreasonableness of the 
demand; agreeing if the king shall tell 
the dream to give the interpretation thereof. 
The king, however, is unyielding in his 
demands, and but two ways lie before 
them, either to comply with the command, 
or die. 

God, however, who watches over his 
people, and guards their interests, was with 
his prophet Daniel, and endowed him with 
wisdom not only to give the dream and 
the interpretation, but also the state of 
mind of the king before he closed his eyes 
in sleep. He was brought before the king, 
and after a few preliminaries, intended no 
doubt to impress the king with the truth 
that it was the God of heaven who enabled 
him to reveal this whole affair, he then 
proceeds to say, "As for thee, king, thy 
thoughts came into thy mind upon thy 
bed, what should come to pass hereafter." 



THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 193 

" Thou, king, sawest, and behold a great 
image. This great image, whose bright- 
ness was excellent, stood before thee ; and 
the form thereof was terrible. This image's 
head was of fine gold, his breast and his 
arms "of silver, his belly and thighs of 
brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron 
and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a 
stone was cut out without hands, which 
smote the image upon his feet that were 
of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 
Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the 
silver, and the gold, broken to pieces 
together, and became like the chaff of the 
summer threshing floors; and the wind 
carried them away, that no place was found 
for them : and the stone that smote the 
image became a great mountain, and filled 
the whole earth." 

The interpretation of this dream, as we 
learii from Daniel, was that of different 
kingdoms under different forms, and ruled 
by different kings in different periods of 
the world. The head of the imaffe >va^ of 



194 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 

gold, and denoted the kingdom of Babylon 
then in existence, and which, at this time, 
had reached its acme. It was ruled by 
Nebuchadnezzar, a proud and haughty 
monarch, and was at this period a kingdom 
of unparalleled wealth. Hence, says 
Daniel, " Thou art this head of gold." 
Isaiah, in view of its riches, denominated 
it, "the golden kingdom." 

The "breasts and arms of silver," refer 
to the Medo-Persian empire founded by 
Cyrus, who was himself a Persian by his 
father; and on the mother's side a Mede. 
Having conquered Babylon, he established 
a potent empire on the ruins thereof. 

The "belly and thighs of brass," point 
us to the Macedonian or Greek empire, 
established by Philip, and enlarged by his 
son Alexander the Great. Alexander 
conquered Greece, crossed into Asia, took 
Tyre and Egypt, conquered king Darius 
and exterminated the Medo-Persian em- 
pire. Alexander also conquered all the 
countries lying between the Adriatic sea 



THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 195 

and the river Ganges. He carried his 
conquests so far that it has passed into a 
proverb (however doubtful it may be) 
that he conquered the world, corresponding 
with the phraseology employed by Daniel, 
" which shall bear rule over all the earth." 
Alexander himself commanded that he 
should be called "the king of all the 
world." And one remarks, after the 
conquests of Alexander, legates came to 
congratulate him on his success, or submit 
to his empire, that he appeared to himself 
and to those around him, "to be the Lord 
of the whole earth and of the sea." 

"Legs of iron," &e., evidently refer to 
the Roman Empire, and not, as some sup- 
pose, to Seleucidae, who reigned in Syria, 
and to Lagidae, who reigned in Egypt. 
The figures employed imply that the king- 
doms of Seleucidae and Lagidae cannot 
possibly be the fourth kingdom, because it 
was to be stronger than the preceding 
kingdoms, as iron breaketh and bruiseth 
all other metals, so this breaketh and sub- 



196 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST, 

dueth all the former kingdoms; and it is 
evident that these kingdoms, instead of 
being stronger, were much weaker, and in 
size were much smaller. The Roman 
Empire is evidently meant; "legs of iron,' 5 
and "feet part of iron and part of clay," 
imply that though part of its elements 
were strong as iron, its constitution being 
heterogeneous, had in itself the elements 
of division. The legs represent the 
eastern and western divisions of the 
Empire, and the ten toes the petty king* 
doms which afterwards succeeded. 

In the further prosecution of the subject 
thus introduced to your attention, we will 

1. Advert to the rise and decline of the 
kingdoms implied in the text, and as 
brought more particularly to view in the 
context. 

2. Call attention to the fifth kingdom, 
and also to the work to be accomplished by 
it. And 

3. Ascertain the time when the whole 
work will be completed. 



THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 197 

In glancing at these kingdoms from the 
days of Daniel down to the present time, we 
will see how beautifully the interpretation 
has been fulfilled. 

1. Advert to the kingdoms spoken of in 
their rise and decline. 

The first is Babylon, which was one of 
the mightiest nations of antiquity; the 
trophies of her successful wars, and active 
industry, filled her metropolis with such 
treasures of magnificence, as rendered it 
the praise and glory of the whole earth. 
As to the king himself it was said, "thou 
art this head of gold." And the language 
of inspiration respecting her is "the 
golden kingdom." The greatness and the 
grandeur of everything connected with 
them have been so graphically described 
both by profane and inspired writers, that 
it has been appropriately reputed one of 
the "wonders of the world." The state of 
the arts and the sciences among the Baby- 
lonians, attest that they had advanced a 
considerable distance in the scale of civili- 



198 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 

zation. Every historian acknowledges her 
greatness and proclaims her fame. But 
these active and industrious habits, which 
had been instrumental, under the blessing 
of the good Being, in securing their 
exaltation, w r ere at length exchanged for 
the most effeminate and vicious indul- 
gences. They became as famous for their 
wickedness as they had been previously 
renowned for their war-like achievements. 
And whilst in the pride of her heart she 
styled herself "a lady forever;" whilst her 
nobles, and her lords were exulting in the 
impregnability of her bulwarks, and cele- 
brating it in song, and revelry and wine, the 
shadowy hand in Belshazzar's palace 
recorded the sad truth that the Medes w r ere 
in her gates and the Persian on her throne. 
In the midst of revelings and idolatries, 
Belshazzar, a most dissolute monarch, 
orders the golden vessels, which had been 
brought from Jerusalem and placed in the 
temple of Belus in Babylon, thus adding 
sin to sin. These vessels were used in 



THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 199 

their rioting. They polluted them with 
their voluptuous lips, and poured out 
libations to the idols, and sang impious 
songs in honor of false gods. In the very 
midst of their banquetings — in the very 
same hour of the night, came forth fingers 
of a man's hand, and wrote upon the 
plastered wall, the doom of Babylon's king. 
Dim grew the lamps before those letters of 
fire. These were presages of his impend- 
ing ruin. Hushed is the voice of mirth. 
Silent the song of revelry. Such was the 
king's panic that the joints of his knees 
smote together. For a moment the 
palace is wrapt in the solitude and silence 
of the grave. But the silence is broken 
by the sound of the groans of the dying. 
Cyrus has entered the city — the clangor 
of war is resounding through the street. 
Belshazzar is slain! Babylon is taken! 
Her glory faded. 0! disastrous night. 
Where is Babylon's glory now? Thus 
proud Babylon fell ; and so complete and 
tremendous has been her fall, that Isaiah 



200 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 

represents the grave as starting up and all 
the shades of the mighty dead as arising in 
astonishment at her overthrow. Thus 
passed away the golden empire of Babylon. 
Cyrus, the conqueror of Babylon, became 
the illustrious founder of the Medo-Persian 
empire. At first, possessing a country 
containing about one hundred thousand 
inhabitants. By his good example, and 
his war-like ability, he became the sole 
head of a nation considered boundless 
in extent, and unrivaled in its power. 
Besides conquering Babylon, he with a 
powerful army overrun Syria, Egypt, 
Armenia, and Asia. He also conquered 
Croesus, that rich king of Lydia. And 
so long as they continued in the original 
simplicity of their mountain fare ; " when," 
as one says, " their clothing was skins, 
their food wild fruits, and *their drink, 
water," so long were the Persian arms the 
dread and terror of the whole world. But 
their conquests soon furnished the cause 
of their ruin. An idling disposition 



THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 201 

began to evince itself even before the 
death of their renowned general. The 
coarseness of their mountain fare, soon 
gave place to all the dainties of a tropical 
clime. Voluptuousness and debauchery 
were lauded as virtues. Thus were the 
seeds of ruin being sown ; which, if not 
checked in their first growth, must eventu- 
ate in the downfall of the empire ; nor 
were they checked, but nurtured with all 
the care and anxiety of a favorite plant. 
At length the deadly upas waved its 
sturdy boughs over the high places of 
the nation, blanching the cheek of Per- 
sian glory, and paralyzing the strength of 
Persian arms. 

But a few generations passed away, 
before they fell by the sword of the 
Macedonian conqueror, so completely 
enfeebled, that Alexander with an army 
thirty times inferior to that mustered by 
king Darius, in two brief battles at the 
river Granicus, and the town of Issus, 
13 



202 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 

struck the death-blow to their mighty 
name,, and quenched the flame of her 
country's glory forever. 'And thus the 
second monarchy passed away, only to 
give place to the third. 

Greece or Macedonia now assumes pre- 
eminence among the nations of the earth; 
and well does she deserve the exalted 
name she bears among all people. Liter- 
ature, art, science, and religion, all of 
which were so diligently cultivated on her 
soil, as to furnish a wreath for her brow, 
such as no nation ever wore before her. 
Every thing that was conducive to a 
nation's renown, the Greeks sought after 
and appropriated to their use. No pursuit 
was deemed too laborious, no enterprise too 
hazardous, to elevate their country's honor 
above the nations of the earth. They had 
their Simonides, and Pythagoras who 
shone forth as brilliant stars of the nation. 
Among them lived Anacreon, who was 
continually laughing at the follies of man- 



THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 203 

kind. And they had Heraclitus, who 
wept at the follies of mankind. These no 
doubt contribute to the improvement of 
the men of Greece. They succeeded in 
rearing a national edifice which all the 
world admired. But they neglected to 
reject and expel every corrupting element, 
and soon her massive pillars began to 
evince signs of decay. Racked and tossed 
by seditions and revolutions, and rent by 
the fury of intestine wars, the sun of her 
glory went down, amidst the gloom and 
shame of human blood ; whilst a few 
inglorious victors fell an easy prey to the 
valor of Roman arms. The illustrious 
Hannibal, after crossing the Alps to the 
consternation of Rome, and put to flight 
all the armies of Italy, and stripped three 
bushels of gold rings from oft' the fingers 
of her knights, had his own army taken in 
a scene of debauchery and made to bow to 
the mistress of the world. Tims passed 
away the brazen kingdom. Her epitaph 



204 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 

is written, and her biography is compre- 
hended in the words rise and decline. 

The fourth monarchy is that of the 
Roman, which is yet in existence. You 
will be kind enough to remember that it 
was against the feet and toes of the image, 
the stone was made to impinge, and the 
colossal statue fell, that is, the Roman 
monarchy, or the fourth and last kingdom 
that should be in existence at the time 
when the God of heaven should set up a 
kingdom never to be destroyed. It was 
to be in the clays of these kings. " And 
this is literally true ; for its rise was when 
the Roman government, partaking of all 
the characteristics of the preceding 
empires, was at its zenith of imperial 
splendor, military glory, legislative 
authority, and literary eminence. It took 
place a few years after the battle of Actium, 
and when Rome was at peace with the 
whole world." Again, Christ was bom at 
a time when by a decree of Cesar 



THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 205 

Augustus the Roman emperor, that all the 
world should be taxed, implying that the 
Roman monarchy had spread so as to 
include in her geographical limits a larger 
extent of territory than the preceding 
ones, which leads us to the second division 
our subject, viz : 

2. To call attention to the fifth kingdom, 
and also the consequence of its establish- 
ment. "It shall break in pieces and con- 
sume all these kingdoms." 

Other kingdoms have been established 
upon the blood and bones of human beings, 
caused by human ambition and worldly 
power. They flourished for a season and 
fell. But this kingdom was to be estab- 
lished by the God of heaven, and should 
never end. The little stone, detached 
from the mountain, was to strike the 
colossal image standing on a plain. This 
stone emanated from a high source, while 
the image representing the kingdoms of 
the world, was in the valley ; implying 



206 THE KINGDOM OP CHRIST. 

that this new kingdom was of a high and 
heavenly origin, and although small at its 
commencement, it was mysteriously aug- 
mented until it filled the whole earth. 
This stone pointed to Christ and his king- 
dom to which we have already alluded. 
He is frequently spoken of as a stone. 
"Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation 
stone, a tried stone, a precious corner 
stone, a sure foundation ; he that believeth 
shall not make haste. And he shall be 
for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumb- 
ling, and for a rock of offense to both the 
houses of Israel. The stone which the 
builders rejected, the same is become the 
head of the corner." This last quotation 
is most positively applied to Christ. It is 
evident, my hearers, that Christ, and espe- 
cially his kingdom, is the stone referred to 
in the interpretation of the dream. It was 
small at the commencement, and to all 
human appearance seemed inadequate to 
the task, yet, was to accomplish the 



THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 207 

demolition of the statue ; not instantly, 
nor by sudden violence ; but by a con- 
tinued process of comminution. The 
Roman empire was represented by the 
legs, feet, and toes of the image. The 
stone therefore in coming in contact with 
the image would naturally strike the toes 
first, and then the feet, by which we may 
know in what way this fifth kingdom 
would supplant those that preceded it. 
The ten toes corresponds, and doubtless 
means the same thing, with the beast with 
seven heads and ten horns already alluded 
to in our first lecture. These ten king- 
doms that have given their power and 
strength to the beast, will yield to the 
genial, the warming, and the animating 
influences of the Holy Spirit. Through 
the medium of the word of God, a flood 
of light will burst upon them, and they 
will abandon every thing bearing the index 
of idolatry. Wherever the gospel spreads 
its glorious light, there the kingdom of 



208 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 

Christ is advancing. Christ, and his apos- 
tles were the first to assert the claims of 
king Messiah. The stone, however, was 
started, and in the space of fifty years 
after the ascension of Christ ; the sound of 
the gospel trumpet was heard to echo 
amid the mountains of Judea, Samaria, 
Gallilee, Syria, Asia, Africa, Persia, and 
even to reverberate upon the shores of 
Italy, Spain, and as some assert upon the 
island of Britain itself. The mists of 
superstition were dispersed by the sin- 
piercing rays of the Sun of Righteousness, 
and every where there was the most 
glorious triumph of light over darkness. 

The Church, however, was permitted to 
sink, and vast hell presumed her victory 
would soon be achieved. But the six- 
teenth century lifted upon her the dawn 
of hope. In the persons of Luther, Cal- 
vin, Zuinglius, and Knox, she found able 
advocates. The stone received a fresh 
impetus, and was made to impinge with 



THE KINGDOM OP CHRIST. 209 

more violence against the image, and the 
time is not far distant when it will become 
pulverized under the weight of the stone 
that is destined to increase in size until it 
shall fill the whole earth. 

How many places are now accessible by 
the missionaries of the cross. In places 
where until recently it was hazardous to 
avow Christianity, it is now a privilege 
enjoyed without molestation. The papal 
world is becoming more and more acces- 
sible to the truth. And in many coun- 
tries where it was least of all expected ; 
many persons, fatigued, and unsatisfied by 
the vain attempt to find true peace and hap- 
piness in formal services, have laid hold of 
Christianity, and have found that peace of 
mind which the gospel invariably affords. 
Truth is advancing, and it matters not 
through what vicissitudes it may be called 
to pass, it is destined to triumph over error. 

fi Truth crushed to earth, will rise again, — 
The eternal years of God are hen." 



210 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 

Christianity is on her march, she is 
dashing aside the artillery aimed at her 
life. She stands side by side of every 
true science, and harmonizes with them. 
She has been justified by the most accom- 
plished literati of the world. She stands 
near the ruins of Nineveh, and beholds 
Layard digging out the majestic remains 
of that once renowned city, and tells him, 
* These are the evidences of my origin," 

"Again, let us look at its wonderful 
spread. This religion once spoke but one 
tongue ; it now speaks in every tongue of 
the world, and every day is a continual 
Pentecost. Our holy faith crosses broad 
seas, climbs rugged mountains, and raises 
its fanes in every country. Its wings are 
not numbered amid polar snows, and it 
does not faint amid equatorial suns. It 
gains in speed and power, and the most 
accomplished of mankind are acknowledg- 
ing respecting it, ' Truly this is the finge* 
of God.'" 



THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 211 

" In the days of these kings the God of 
heaven shall set up another kingdom." 
This kingdom must have a king ; and we 
are told that Christ is the king — was 
styled thus by the person who signed his 
death warrant. I am aware, however, 
that Christ said his " kingdom was not of 
this world/ 5 but it was not always so to 
be. " For the kingdoms of this world are 
to become the kingdoms of Christ, and he 
shall reign forever and ever." His do- 
minion is an everlasting dominion, which 
shall not pass away, and his kingdom that 
which shall not be destroyed. We are 
taught to believe that this blessed event 
will ultimately be accomplished. For 

" Jesus shall reign where'er the sun 
Doth his successive journeys run; 
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, 
Till moons shall wax and wane no more." 

Christ, we said, is to be the king, and 
as such has already been anointed. He 
was anointed to the three-fold office of 



212 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 

Prophet, Priest, and King. As Priest, 
he was anointed, and was sacrificed upon 
the cross, and passed into heaven. As 
Prophet, he was also anointed, he taught 
the people, and the people were aston- 
ished at his words and doctrines. "Never 
man spake like this man." As King, he 
was also anointed, but is not yet fully mani- 
fested. David was a type of Christ ; but 
as David did not enter upon the duties of 
a king, although he was anointed already, 
until after the death of Saul, who was a 
type of anti-Christ, so Christ as the 
anointed king will not enter fully upon 
the duties of a king until after the death 
of anti-Christ the anti-type of Saul. Saul, 
we say, was a type of anti- Christ. Look 
at his history from the time he was 
anointed king by the prophet Samuel 
until he closed his earthly career, and see 
what a remarkable coincidence there is 
between his history and the history of 
anti-Christ as developed within the last 



THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 213 

twelve centuries. Whoever reads the 
biography of Saul, whether written by 
inspired or profane writers, must see that 
in him was foreshadowed the anti-Christ 
which should follow. Saul was at one 
time in his history blessed with the gift of 
prophecy, and it passed into a proverb, 
"Is Saul a]so among the prophets?" 
God spoke to him by dreams and visions 
of the night. But he became a rebel 
against God. And God departed from 
him. lie was filled with hatred against 
David ; and his animosity led him to seek 
his life. The cause of this was jealousy ; 
he knew David was to be his successor. 
He resorted to cunning devices for the 
purpose of accomplishing his desire. But 
an overruling Providence interfered, and 
David was saved. Better try to pluck 
the sun from its orbit, than to interfere 
with the providences of God. Better 
undertake to roll a tide of desolation 
through the starry world, than undertake 



214 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 

to defeat the plans of Jehovah. Saul, 
when approaching an incensed God, was 
driven to despair, and as his last resort he 
flies to the witch of Endor, and shortly 
afterwards died. So will be the end of 
anti-Christ, who is now jealous of the pro- 
digious success of the kingdom and cause 
of Christ ; and who would Herod-like most 
gladly concoct some plan to impede the 
progress of this kingdom, and thus save 
himself. But it is all useless. The time 
has come when anti-Christ shall be de- 
stroyed. His throne is tottering, and will 
soon crumble and fall. And as Saul was 
suddenly cut off, so will anti-Christ meet 
with a similar end. But it is time to 
inquire more particularly as to the time 
when this most glorious event shall take 
place. An event fraught with interest, 
and one too that should be looked upon 
as intimately connected with the happiness 
of the universal brotherhood of mankind. 
But, 



THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 215 

3. Let as ascertain the time zvhen the 
whole work tvillbe completed. 

We invite your attention to the eighth 
chapter of Daniel, where we are furnished 
with another vision which appeared to him 
in the third year of the reign of Belshaz- 
zar, and a short time before the rise of 
the Medo-Persian Empire. " I lifted up 
mine eyes and saw, and behold, there 
stood before the river a ram which had 
two horns; and the two horns were high; 
but one was higher than the other, and the 
higher came up last." This ram, he was 
informed, meant the kings of Media and 
Persia. The great goat which destroyed 
the ram, was the kingdom of Greece or 
Macedonia, established by Philip, and 
enlarged by his son Alexander the Great. 
By the little horn we are to understand 
the Roman Empire, both Pagan and anti- 
Christian. It is the same as the fourth 
beast described in the seventh chapter of 
Daniel ; and the beast with seven heads 



21 G THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 

and ten horns, which is described in the 
thirteenth chapter of Revelation. The 
same power under the same form still 
exists, and still casts down the truth to 
the ground, and practices and prospers. 
"Then," says Daniel, "I heard one saint 
speaking, and another saint said unto that 
certain saint which spake, how long shall 
be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, 
and the transgression of desolation, to give 
both the sanctuary and the host to be 
trodden under foot? And he said unto 
me : unto two thousand and three hundred 
days." This is called, in the twenty-sixth 
verse, "the vision of the evening and the 
morning." "The vision of the evening 
and the morning which was told, is true ; 
wherefore shut thou up the vision, for it 
shall be for many days." It is certain 
and evident that the period of time signi- 
fied by the vision, commenced when the 
Median and Persian kingdoms were united 
under Cyrus and his uncle Darius; and we 



THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 217 

are told by the best chronologers that this 
event took place in the year 534 before the 
Christian era; if then, we add 534 to the 
present year 1856, it will appear to be 
2390 years since the date of the vision. 
But there has been an error of one hundred 
years carried through all our Hebrew 
Bibles. The Septuagint translation, which 
was made about two hundred and fifty 
years after the time of Daniel, was twenty- 
four hundred days, and the events which 
have since transpired, prove that transla- 
tion to be correct; for the twenty-three 
hundred years has passed away since the 
date of the vision, and the little horn still 
continues, in a measure, to cast down the 
truth to the ground, and to practice and 
prosper. If then, 534 be added to the 
present year 1856, it will be 2390 since 
the date of the vision, and from the time 
of the vision until the complete fulfillment 
of what should take place, was to be 
2400 years. It is, as we have seen, 2390 
14 



218 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 

years since the date of the vision; yon 
will perceive that only ten years more are 
required to make the 2400 years. And 
this was the length of time that was to 
intervene between the time when Daniel 
saw the vision until the sanctuary should 
be cleansed. It was 534 years before the 
commencement of the Christian era when 
Daniel saw the vision; by subtracting 534 
from 2400, we have as the result 1866. 
Ten years added to 2390 makes the 2400, 
and ten years added to 1856 makes 1866. 
Here then, we have another proof of our 
position. Here are the dates — you may 
make the calculation yourselves; and we 
cannot see how you can come to any other 
conclusion than the one we have presented. 
Again, we invite you to turn to the twelfth 
chapter of Daniel, where we are furnished 
with another proof. "And from the time 
that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, 
and the abomination that maketh desolate 
set up, there shall be a thousand two hun- 



THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 219 

dred and ninety days, (1290.) Blessed is 
he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand 
three hundred and five and thirty days." 
(1335.) The taking away of the daily 
sacrifice, and the abomination which 
maketh desolate set up, some suppose 
refer to the time when Antiochus, by his 
military agent, Appollonius, took posses- 
sion of Jerusalem, and put a stop to the 
temple worship there. "They shed inno- 
cent blood around the sanctuary, and 
defiled the holy place; and the inhabitants 
of Jerusalem fled away; her feasts were 
turned into mourning, her Sabbaths into 
reproach, and her honor into disgrace." 
1 Mac. i, 37-39. However plausible may 
be the reasoning respecting this matter, 
and however honest others may be in 
applying it to Antiochus, and the destruc- 
tion of the temple worship in Jerusalem, 
we must dissent from the view. We think 
it refers to anti-Christ. In the eighth chap- 
ter of Daniel the subject, as we have seen, 



220 THE KIKGDOM OF CHRIST. 

is introduced respecting the daily sacrifice 
and the abomination which maketh deso- 
late ; and in answer to the interrogatory as 
to how long this should continue, it was 
said, twenty-four hundred years. Now, in 
this chapter we have the same subject 
introduced respecting the daily sacrifice, 
&c. To understand this subject properly, 
we must remember that the introduction of 
the subject in Daniel, eighth chapter, 
closed with the information respecting the 
length of time that was to elapse from his 
day until the complete fulfillment of the 
desolation spoken of. In the vision 
recorded in the twelfth chapter, he was 
informed how long this desolation should 
continue after the daily sacrifice had been 
taken away. The former must be 
reckoned from the time of Daniel, and 
the other must be reckoned from a later 
date. It evidently'refers to a period when 
the true worship of God was interrupted 
by innovations; the introduction of forms 



THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 221 

and ceremonies, by which the vitality of 
the Church, in a great measure, was lost. 
And this took place when its spirituality 
had been exchanged for outward appear- 
ances. 

And this was not done instantly, but in 
a gradual way. The Church that Paul 
planted in Rome was composed of a few 
converted Jews, Greeks, and Roman citi- 
zens. Its fame soon spread while under 
the teaching of the Apostle Paul. For a 
time it shone brightly, and its light was 
seen. Its faith was everywhere celebra- 
ted. But it soon declined and lost its 
primitive purity. It was by degrees that 
Christian Rome advanced to the usurped 
dominion of the world. For a time the 
bishops had the superintendency of the 
Churches within the jurisdiction of the 
prefect of Rome. Rome at this time was 
the largest, richest, and most powerful city 
in the world. It was the seat of the em- 
pire, the mother of nations. "If Rome 



222 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 

is the queen of cities, why should not her 
pastor be the king of bishops? Why 
should not the Roman church be the 
mother of Christendom ? Why should not 
all nations <be her children, and her author- 
ity thier sovereign law? It was easy for 
the ambitious heart of man to reason thus. 
Ambitious Rome did so." 

The bishops throughout the empire felt 
a pleasure in yielding to the bishop of 
Rome some portion of that honor which 
was, as they supposed, due the queen of 
the world. The power of the pastor in 
Rome increased like an avalanche, and 
thus anti-Christ began to assume his de- 
sired place in the temple of God. The 
love of pre-eminence, or spirit of domina- 
tion, was then considered an unequivocal 
mark of anti-Christ. Hence said Gregory I, 
respecting the patriarch of Constantinople, 
" Whoever assumes the name or title of 
universal bishop, is anti-Christ." And 
this may be considered good authority, 



THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 223 

coming as it does from one of the bishops 
of Rome. From this time, therefore, is 
obviously the period when the daily sacri- 
fice was taken away, and the abomination 
which maketh desolate was set up. Let 
me advert to the 17th chapter of Revela- 
tion, and we have the inscription of the 
power that took away the daily sacrifice, 
and whose abomination makes desolate. 
It is represented by a woman arrayed in 
purple and scarlet, and decked with gold 
and precious stones and pearls, having a 
golden cup in her hand full of (mark the 
expression) abominations and filthiness of 
her fornication, "And upon her forehead 
was a name written, MYSTERY, BABY- 
LON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER 
OF HARLOTS, AND (mark what follows) 
ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." 
Able writers, who have investigated this 
subject thoroughly, tell us that the earliest 
developments of the papacy was about the 
year 531- This may be considered as the 



224 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 

date of its dawn ; and from this period it 
was to be one thousand, three hundred, 
five and thirty days (1335) until the 
abomination which maketh desolate was 
to be brought to an end. " Blessed is he 
that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand 
three hundred and five and thirty days." 
If, then, we add 1335 to 531, we land 
again in 1866. 

It has been asked, what is the use of 
preaching upon the subject, if, as you say, 
the millennium is so near at hand. We 
reply, " much every way. " The com- 
mand is, "Watch and pray. 5 ' The one is 
as important as the other is sublime. One 
duty devolving upon Christians is to live 
above the world; not to be conformed to 
the world. Christ said, " I have chosen 
you out of the world." Just think for a 
moment what the Bible requires in calling 
us to be Christian. It is to immolate self, 
to be divorced from the world, to renounce 
the world, to be crucified to the world. 



THB KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 225 

We have a thousand appetites that must 
be overcome, a thousand propensities that 
must be conquered, a thousand passions 
that mast be subdued ; and to allure us, 
objects most seductive, and solicitations 
most refined are placed before us. These 
are to be repelled, surmounted, overcome. 
The fact is the very name, Christian, 
implies crucifixion to the world. The 
Christian in his profession, his pursuits, his 
joys, his hopes, seems to exclaim with the 
superb eagle soaring aloft on silver wing 
until he revels among the stars, and lights 
upon the chariot of the sun: "I was born 
on the earth, but I live in the sky." To 
think of the near approach of the millen- 
nium, and how you become inspired with 
new zeal. How it diminishes the lustre 
of the world's pomp and glory ! It recon- 
ciles you to its poverty, you are resigned 
to its sorrows, its persecutions and you 
are ready to exclaim, "what have I to 
do with the world's vanities, its smiles, and 



223 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 

its glories ? I am waiting, expecting, 
looking, hoping, praying, for that blessed 
hope, the approach of the millennium." 
From the overflowing of such an heart, 
what an influence would be exerted, what 
a ray of light would emanate from the 
example, and what a deep impression would 
be made on the minds of all within the 
circle of our acquaintance ? But does not 
the view you take, and the opinion you 
express, as to the nearness of the millen- 
nium have a tendency to induce indiffer- 
ence on the subject? "Instead of this 
being a reason for relaxing our exertions," 
says one, "it is the reverse; if the letter 
paper is nearly full, let us crowd more 
writing into the space that remains ; if the 
candlelight is nearly extinguished, let us 
work the harder ere it go out. Let our 
loins be girt, and our lamps burning, as 
men waiting for the Lord." 

Whenever it is announced that a new 
star has been discovered in the heavens, 



THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 227 

astronomers, using this earth as an obser- 
vatory, and by the aid of the telescope, look 
in the direction of the star, and if possible 
find out its relative position. My hearers 
the Star of Hope is about to rise on 
the world; and we invite you, to place 
yourselves upon the promises of the Bible, 
and by the use of the telescope of the 
gospel, learn with certainty the truth of 
the rising star in the moral heavens. "He 
calleth to me out of Seir," 

" Watchman ! tell us of the night 1 

Higher yet that star ascends: 
Trav'ler! blessedness and light, 

Peace and truth its course portends ! 

Watchman ! will its beams alono 
Gild the spot that gave them birth 

Trav'ler I ages are its own, 
See ; it bursts o'er all the earth." 



LECTURE VII. 



€\t Itaian of % llillemrittm. 



LECTURE VII. 



THE NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 

Thy kingdom come. — Matt, vi, 10. 

Prayer is an indispensable duty enjoined 
upon Christians. It is made obligatory 
upon them, because they are commanded to 
pray, and because their interests, both tem- 
poral and spiritual, are inseparably con- 
nected with it. We are commanded to 
make our wants known, and if faith accom- 
panies the requests we make, they will be 
granted, if the thing requested be in accord- 
ance with the will of God; for, let it be 
remembered that God's will is always right; 
and he is too wise to err, and never doeth 
wrong. We may request at the hands of 
God such things, which if granted, would be 
unto us curses instead of blessings. Nero's 
mother prayed that her son might be 



232 NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 

Emperor. Her wishes were realized; but 
Nero murdered his mother. No injury 
will be sustained by us in leaving the event 
with God. 

There are, however, prayers that we 
may offer to God and claim their answer. 
You have noticed in reading the scriptures 
that we are frequently commanded to pray 
for certain things. The words of the text 
are of such a nature. We are most posi- 
tively commanded to pray for the kingdom 
of Christ to come. It would be reflecting 
most seriously on the character of God to 
hesitate a moment in believing that such 
a petition would not be heard and answered. 
It was not only given to the infant Church, 
but was to be of binding force on the 
Church /through all subsequent periods, 
and will continue so until it shall be fully 
and completely answered, and the praise 
of Christ 

" Sound from shore to shore." 

It is no valid objection to say that the 



NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 233 

phraseology employed in the text does not 
refer to a kingdom in this world. Read 
the next sentence, and an explanation of 
the text follows: "Thy kingdom come." 
And what follows? "Thy will be done. " 
Where ? "On earth." How? "As it is 
in heaven." Would you learn the nature 
of Christ's kingdom, consult Paul's letter 
to the Romans, xiv, 17: "For the king- 
dom of God is not meat and drink, but 
righteousness, and peace, and joy in the 
Holy Ghost," Paul defines the kingdom 
of Chri^ to be righteousness, peace, and 
joy i all of which may be realized in this 
world, arjei which will be the portion of the 
saints during the millennial reign of 
Christ, or else words have no meaning. 
Righteousness — and what says prophecy 
respecting it during the millennium? 
"The mountains shall bring peace to the 
people, and the little hills, by righteousness. 
In his days shall the righteous flourish, and 
abundance of peace so long as the moon 
15 



234 NATURE OE THE MILLENNIUM. 

endareth. I will also make thy officers 
peace, and thine exactors right eousnes." 

Peace. "The meek shall inherit the 
earth, and shall delight themselves in the 
abundance of peace. Thus saith the Lord, 
behold, 1 will extend peace to her like a 
river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a 
flowing stream. I will also make thy 
officers peace" &c. 

Joy. " The ransomed of the Lord shall 
return, and come to Zion with songs of 
everlasting joy upon their heads; they 
shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow 
and sighing shall flee away. Break forth 
into joy ; sing together, ye waste places 
of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted 
his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. 
Be ye glad and rejoice forever in that 
which I create, for behold, I create Jeru- 
salem a rejoicing, and hex people a joy. 
And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy 
in my people ; and the voice of weeping 
shall be no more heard in her, nor the 



NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 235 

voice of crying. The Lord thy God in 
the midst of thee is mighty; he will save; 
he will rejoice over thee with joy" 

Having made these preliminary remarks 
respecting the kingdom of Christ, we will 
give you, in a condensed form, some of 
the views that have been entertained on 
this subject, and reserve what we have to 
say touching the nature of the millennium 
until the closing of this lecture. 

1 . Show some of the vieivs entertained 
on this subject 

Some very strange notions have been 
imbibed on this subject. One has given 
free scope to his imagination, by saying 
that the large rivers in America are mostly 
on the eastern side, by which means the 
Jews will be able to waft themselves more 
easily down to the Atlantic, and then 
across that great ocean to the holy land; 
and moreover, that Christ will appear at 
the equinox, when the days and nights are 
of equal length over the glob?, and that 



236 NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM, 

the body of Christ will be luminous, and 
being suspended in the air over the equa- 
tor for the space of twenty-four hours, will 
be seen with circumstances of peculiar 
glory from the rivers to the ends of the 
earth, by all the inhabitants of our world. 

Another writer of considerable celebrity 
has published two small volumes on pro- 
phecy, in which he contends for a millen- 
nium involving the personal reign of 
Christ on earth. Its commencement he 
dates, as we have done, in 1866, with 
which view we most heartily concur, 
except the idea of the personal reign of 
Christ. We regard the millennium as a 
spiritual reign of the Redeemer. 

Bishop Newton, Dr. Gill, and others 
also, contend for a personal reign of Christ 
on earth. One in his dissertation on the 
prophecies gives the following description 
of the millennium: "When these great 
events shall come to pass, which we collect 
from the prophecies, this is to be the 



NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 237 

proper order; the Protestant witnesses 
shall be greatly exalted, and their 1260 
years of prophesying in sackcloth, and of 
the tyranny of the beast, shall end 
together; the restoration of the Jews 
succeed; then follows the ruin of the 
Ottoman Empire; and then the total 
destruction of Rome and of anti-Christ. 
When these great events, I say, shall come 
to pass, then shall the kingdom of Christ 
commence, or the reign of the saints upon 
the earth." 

Another entertaining and exalted idea 
of the advantages to which our nature 
may be destined, intimates that the thou- 
sand years may be regarded as prophetical ; 
and that consequently the millennial era 
will last three hundred and sixty thousand 
years. 

Another view is, that there will be no 
resurrection; and that the millennium 
only implies the revival of religion; and 
the triumph of the truth. 



238 NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 

There is another view, which is exten- 
sively held in the Christian Church, and 
which is claimed to be based on the scrip- 
tures of divine truth. According to this 
theory, this earth is to be purified by fire 
as was the old world by water. It will 
then be the abode of the sacramental host 
of God, the home of the pious. The fol- 
lowing is this theory expressed in few 
words : " Then we say that this earth of 
ours, cleansed from the blood and tears of 
many generations, and exulting in the 
smile of the Eternal, shall be — not heaven 
merely— but the very center and shrine 
of heaven." 

In favor of this theory, an argument is 
adduced from reason. It runs in this 
wise : When man sinned and fell, the 
physical world felt the effect, and shared 
in the terrible ruin which followed. 

" Earth felt the wound, and nature from her seat, 
Sighing through all her works gave signs of woe, 
That all was lost." 

It is maintained as nature was partaker 



nature op the millennium. 239 

in the ruins of the fall, so it must also 
become a sharer in the final restoration. 
It is true, that the earth was affected by 
the fall ; the ground was cursed for the 
sin of our progenitors, but to assume that 
it must be renovated on that ground 
merely, is assuming too much ; as that 
mode of reasoning would evidently lead to 
conclusions that its adherents themselves 
would discard. If such reasoning be cor- 
rect, then it follows that man, who was a 
great sharer in the ruins of the fall, would 
ultimately be restored ; and the whole 
race be finally saved with an everlasting 
salvation. 

A passage of scripture in Revelation, 
chapter xxi, is supposed to teach this 
theory : "And I saw a new heaven and a 
new earth ; for the first heaven and the 
first earth were passed away, and there 
was no more sea." As this theory is 
professedly based on scripture, it must 
receive a passing notice. The sense of 



240 NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 

the passage just quoted will perhaps bo 
better understood from an examination of 
the context, commencing at the seventh 
verse of the preceding chapter; then it 
will be seen why the holy city is repre- 
sented as coming down from God out of 
heaven. You will observe, my friends, 
that two cities are spoken of. The " be- 
loved city " which is on earth, and the 
u holy city " coming down from heaven. 
These evidently denote the militant and 
triumphant branches of the Church. With 
this fact before us, let us attend to a con- 
crete exposition of the whole passage, and 
see if all will not appear perfectly natural, 
and at the same time accompanied with a 
clearness that will leave no room for doubt. 
At the close of the glorious millennium, 
or expiration of the thousand years reign 
of peace, will come the final winding up of 
all that bears the index of earth ; when 
the Church militant has encamped in full 
panoply, waiting to be marched into its 



NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 241 

triumphant state, the evil one will make 
one more desperate effort against it. The 
powers of hell will be drawn up in battle 
array, gathered together from the four 
corners of the earth. This army, figura- 
tively called Gog and Magog, will be 
numerous as the sand of the sea. With 
boldness they march up to the camp of the 
saints who are in the "beloved city," 
the Church of God in its militant state. 
In this emergency, the Lord appears in 
behalf of his people, and the mighty army 
of the enemy is exterminated by fire from 
God out of heaven, and the devil by whom 
this vast army have been most wofully 
deceived, is taken and cast into the lake 
of fire, to reap the bitter reward of his evil 
doing, and for his determination to destroy 
the cause of Christ. 

Meanwhile, the supreme potentate, ar- 
rayed in all the solemn ensignia of u Judge 
of all," is about to make his second entry, 
with supernal pomp, to close the nuptials 



242 NATURE OT THE MILLENNIUM. 

between the Lamb and the bride, who has 
now made herself ready, and also to sum- 
mon mankind to his bar. High in the 
oriental sky, the impenetrable gloomy 
clouds are beginning to separate. A bril- 
liant spot, dim and small at first, but 
increasing in size, and growing brighter as 
it approaches the earth, is visible through 
the gathering gloom. " The dazzling 
radiance moves onward and downward, 
and is drawing nigher and still nigher to 
the earth." The blessed Redeemer rides 
in awful grandeur. His wheels roll in fire, 
surrounded with unparalleled sublimity of 
state. Ten thousand times ten thousand 
angels follow him to grace the scene. 
Christ in front — he leads on a long pro- 
cession of illustrious attendants, reaching 
as far back into the heavens as our aston- 
ished vision can reach — the whole retinue 
shining with immortal splendor, and coming 
on like a mighty flood of living glory. 
When they reach the lower atmosphere of 



NATURE OP THE MILLENNIUM. 243 

our earth, the dazzling host will stop, and 
a strong voice, stern and sonorous will be 
heard by all the living tribes of men, come 
to judgment! Come to judgment ! Come 
each, come all, come away ! 

" Behold the awful books displayed, 
Big with the important fates of men; 

Each deed and word now public made, 
As wrote by heaven's unerring pen." 

The saints, having been judged and 
approved, are now waiting to be conducted 
to heaven, their promised reward. Who 
will conduct them thither ? Hear it, oh 
ye heavens ! " The holy city, new Jeru- 
salem." By which we are to understand 
the whole Church triumphant, shall come 
down from God out of heaven. The new 
Jerusalem, the "holy city," or Church 
triumphant, and the "beloved city," or 
Church militant on earth are now visibly 
united, the holy nuptials are consummated, 
and all prepare for their ascension to 
heaven. See, they look for the last time 



244 NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 

on the old and hoary earth ! Why, that 
they are now ready, is it longer delayed ! 
Oh ! what glory now encircles the brow of 
the Son of God ! Now is he ready to lead 
many sons to glory. But see! Away 
they start, rising higher and higher, 
spreading further and further, until at last 
the city of God, in silent grandeur, lifts its 
towers before them. " Lift up your heads, 
ye gates ; and be ye lifted up, ye ever- 
lasting doors, and the King of glory shall 
come in. Who is this King of glory ? 
The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord 
mighty in battle." Christ says to God 
the Father, here am I, and here are the 
evidences of my victory. They pass into 
the city prepared for them. What a 
mighty, universal burst of rapturous ap- 
plause. What high sounding symphonies 
swell the grand chorus of the joyful throng 
as they sing, " Let us be glad and rejoice, 
and give honor to him ; for the marriage 
of the Lamb is come!" 



NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 245 

This may suffice as an exposition of 
these scriptures which are of shadowy 
import, at all events they partake very 
much of prophecy, and it is precarious to 
base a positive doctrine on prophecy 
exclusively, especially when there is so 
much direct evidence against it. 

Reason, instead of furnishing an argu- 
ment in favor of this theory, gives us an 
incontrovertible argument against it. The 
circumference of the earth is too small to 
be the final home of the blessed. Let us 
suppose the trump of God now sounding, 
its thundering tones would peal from moun- 
tain to mountain, re-echo from valley to 
valley; and reaching out into distant 
space would bound from star to star, and 
then roll on to creation's further side. 
See ! all the dead coming forth. " The 
sea delivers up the dead," that were in its 
depths. Every grave opens and lets its 
prisoner go. Let all the untold millions 
of mankind who have peopled the earth 



24G NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 

and passed away, be gathered together and 
they would cover every mountain from its 
loftiest peak down to its lowest declivity. 
Every island, each ocean rock, of every 
sea, would be full of close pressed crowds 
of human forms. Not a single foot of 
land, no, not a rock projecting above the 
surface of the sea, but would be covered 
with) living human forms. There would 
be all the ancient worthies, patriarchs, 
prophets, apostles, martyrs, who ascended 
the skies in chariots of fire, dropping their 
mantles, as they rose, on followers who 
were fit to wear them. There would also 
be champions who smote with the sword 
of the Spirit, the flying powers of darkness. 
Let all the collected wisdom and virtue of 
all lands and all ages meet together; the 
seven thousand who had not bowed their 
knee to Baal, nor kissed his image. The 
seed of Abraham which was to be "as the 
stars of the sky in multitude, and as the 
sand which is by the sea-shore innumer- 



NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 247 

able." "These all died in faith." To 
these are to be added the children who 
have gone up from Christian, and from 
heathen lands; those little ones whom 
angels sung to rest, moreover, the heavenly 
hosts are innumerable. The exiled John 
while on Patmos was favored with a view 
of heaven — the veil was drawn aside and 
0! what a scene fell upon his vision, 
radiant with the splendors of eternal day ! 
He looked, he wondered, and was thrilled 
with rushing pulsation as the pealing 
anthem came sounding on his ear — 

" Sweetest sound in seraph'3 song, 
Sweetest note on mortals tongue. " 

He tells us that he saw an innumerable 
host of angels that no man could number. 
" And I beheld, and I heard the voice of 
many angels round about the throne, and 
the beasts, and the elders; and the number 
of them was ten thousand times ten thou- 
sand, and thousands of thousands." Let 
all .this Vast number John beheld; those 



248 NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM, 

who have been added to that number since 
his day; and all be gathered together 
from the graves of earth, and the caves of 
ocean; and it needs no lucid argument to 
prove that this insignificant planet on 
which we live, would be too small for the 
eternal home of those who have been 
redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. 

As this theory has been advocated by 
men of erudition, whose celebrity demands 
that it be not dispatched with little or no 
investigation. Therefore we shall adduce 
other arguments, showing that the view 
under consideration doe snot quadrate with 
the Bible. We are told by the Apostle 
when the thousand years shall have expired, 
Satan is to be loosed a little season, and 
that he will gather together the wicked 
for battle against the saints of the Most 
High, &c. The idea we wish to impress 
upon your minds is, as you have been 
frequently taught, that heaven is a holy 
place; and that nothing sinful can enter 



NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 249 

it. How, then we ask will it be possible 
for Satan, who long since raised the stand- 
ard of revolt against the God of heaven, 
and who ever since his fall, has been 
making the most powerful efforts to destroy 
the kingdom of Christ ; how, we ask, will 
he be permitted to enter the abode of the 
blest with a view of arraying a formidable 
force against them, if the earth-heaven 
theory be true ? 

The truth is, my hearers, heaven is now 
prepared, and many of the saints have 
entered it. Where is Enoch ? Where is 
Elijah? who were translated to heaven 
and did not taste death. Christ said to 
the thief on the cross, " to-day shallt thou 
be with me in Paradise." And where is 
Christ? He ascended to heaven it is 
said, and was beheld until a cloud received 
him out of sight; and those that saw him 
were assured by the angels, that he should 
come again in like manner as he had 
ascended, all of which implies that heaven 
16 



250 NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 

is a local place, and that it is now prepared, 
and saints at death enter it. 

Again. The Saviour said to his 
sorrowing disciples but a short time prior 
to his leaving this world, "Let not your 
hearts be troubled; ye believe in God, 
believe also in me. In my Father's house 
are many mansions ; if it were not so, I 
would have told you. I go to prepare a 
place for you. And if I go and prepare a 
place for you, I will come again and 
receive you unto myself; that where I 
am there ye may be also." From these 
comforting words we learn that our man- 
sions are now prepared; but, according to 
the theory under consideration, the place 
which the saints are to occupy as their 
eternal home is not yet prepared. 

From the words just quoted, we are 
assured that Christ will come again after 
these mansions shall have been prepared; 
but according to the theory of the earth's 
renovation, these mansions will not be 
prepared until after his second coming. 



NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM* 2ol 

In order to prepare these mansions he 
leaves the earth, he goes away from it, 
showing plainly that heaven is away from 
the earth, and that it is already prepared. 
He will come to receive us to himself 
implying, that the future abode of the 
saints is not this earth. "That where I 
am there ye may be also.'* Where is he ? 
and the answer is in heaven. 

That heaven is a place somewhere away 
from the earth, is evident from other por- 
tions of the Bible. David said, "Whom 
have I in heaven but thee ? And there 
is none upon earth that I desire besides 
thee." Here we have the two worlds 
brought to view. God was David's all in 
heaven, and there was none upon earth 
he desired besides him. " We know then 
that if our earthly house of this tabernacle, 
were dissolved, we have a building of God, 
an house not made with hands, eternal in 
the heavens." What can be plainer than 
that heaven is now prepared, and that 
saints soon as they are liberated from this 



252 NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 

prison of clay will enter it. " The heaven, 
even the heavens, are the Lord's ; but the 
earthly hath he given to the children of 
men." "Thy will be done on earth as it 
is in heaven." "I came forth from the 
Father, and am come into the world; 
again, I leave the world, and go to the 
Father." 

The patriarchs confessed that they were 
strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 
Strangers, for the reason that they were 
pDgrims. "These all died in faith, not 
having received the promises, but having 
seen them afar off, and were persuaded of 
them, and embraced them, and confessed 
that they were strangers and pilgrims on 
the earth. For they that say such things 
declare plainly that they seek a country. 
And truly, if they had been mindful of 
that country from whence they came out, 
they might have had opportunity to have 
returned. But now they desire a letter 
country, that is, an heavenly; wherefore 
God is not ashamed to be called their God> 



NATURE OF THE MILLENIUM. 253 

for he hath prepared for them a city." 
What can be more obvious than that 
heaven is now prepared. No other reason- 
able inference can be drawn from the 
language just quoted. In no sense, then, 
can this earth be called heaven. It is 
God's footstool. In view of this subject 
the Christian may say: "Farewell, thou 
earth, thou land of the curse ! My aspi- 
rations are towards the fountain of 
uncreated light. Farewell, ye lamps of 
heaven, ye shall not stay my freed 
spirit's upward flight. Far, 

Far from these narrow scenes of night 

Unbounded glories rise, 
A.nd realms of infinite delight, 

Unknown to mortal eyes." 

Borne upon the wings of faith, we may 
attempt to follow the track of the Saviour's 
ascension, or that of the chariots of Israel 
in which Elijah went up — alas! let us 
not attempt it in the body. Here, then, 
we rest in the patience of hope, and in that 
assurance of faith which is the evidence 
of things not seen. This, however, wo 



254 NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 

know, when once the signal for our depart- 
ure is given, our emancipated spirits shall 
cleave the air, as Christ and Elijah did; 
passing through the first heaven, the earth, 
its sinful abode, shall dwindle into nothing 
behind it. The second heaven also, with 
all its planets, suns, and systems, stretch- 
ing far beyond the reach of human thought, 
will soon fade back into dim space. Now, 
the third heaven will stretch out before us, 
onward and upward, its eternal plains! 
Faint and far before, but drawing nearer, 
and nearer, appears the Holy City; soon 
its twelve shining foundations, from which 
the battlements of blazing jasper tower 
upwards, are scaled — the portals of light 
are crossed, and now before the soul's 
enraptured gaze the heaven of heavens 
stretches broader and higher its boundless 
realms through uncreated light! 

Amen ! Hallelujah ! Come, Lord Jesus, 
come quickly! 

Let us advert, for a moment, to the 
resurrection as taught in the scriptures. 



NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 255 

It is asserted that there will be two literal 
resurrections. The first to take place just 
at the ushering in of the mill ennium, and 
is to consist of those who died as martyrs 
in the cause of Christ, together with all 
the saints of God, and that these shall 
live and reign with Christ a thousand years, 
and that the wicked dead are not to be 
raised until the thousand years are finished. 
The following scriptures are supposed to 
establish the theory : " And I saw thrones, 
and they sat upon them, and judgment 
was given unto them; and I saw the souls 
of them that were beheaded for the wit- 
ness of Jesus, and for the word of God, 
and which had not worshiped the beast, 
neither his image, neither had received 
his mark upon their foreheads, or in their 
hands ; and they lived and reigned with 
Christ a thousand years. But the rest of 
the dead lived not again until the thou- 
sand years were finished. This is the 
first resurrection. Blessed and holy is 
he that hath part in the first resurrect ion; 



256 NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 

on such the second death hath no power, 
but they shall be priests of God and of 
Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand 
years." 

It is obvious that this theory, if at all 
sustained by the scriptures, is embraced in 
the quotation just made. The doctrine of 
two resurrections is not only implied, but 
also taught in the paragraph above. But 
we cannot imbibe the idea that two literal 
resurrections are taught in the scriptures. 
"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in 
the first resurrection" bv no means sustains 
it It is not denied that there are two 
resurrections, but it is denied that both are 
literal, and that a thousand years will 
intervene between them. The first resur- 
rection is a resurrectionfrom spiritual death. 
All persons, before they are changed from 
nature to grace, are represented in the 
Bible as being dead. Hence, says the 
Apostle, "awake, thou that sleepest, and 
arise from the dead, and Christ shall give 
thee light" Who would for a moment 



NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 257 

indulge the idea that Paul had in his pere- 
grinatings wandered into same lonely 
cemetery, and among the quiet dead, 
addressed himself in the language just 
quoted? He evidently addressed himself 
to those who were living, and yet w r ere 
dead "in trespasses and sins." And the 
same Apostle, in describing one who had 
responded to the call, and was made alive 
unto God, says: "And you hath he 
quickened, who were dead in trespasses 
and sins." 

Again, Christ, in the days of his incar- 
nation, said to two particular individuals 
"follow me." But one replied, "Lord 
suffer me first to go and bury my father." 
Allow me to perform this last tribute of 
respect to the deceased one, after which, 
I shall then comply with thy command. 
Now mark the reply: "Let the dead 
bury their dead." The only proper expo- 
sition of this language is, let those who 
are spiritually dead bury those who are 
temporally dead. 



258 NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, the 
hour is coming, and now is, when the dead 
shall hear the voice of the Son of God ; 
and they that hear shall live." You will 
be kind enough to notice the language, 
"the hour is coming and now is;" it was 
then already. This evidently implies a 
resurrection that might take place at that 
time already, as it is said, "they that hear 
shall live," which cannot be applied to the 
literal resurrection, as a condition seems to 
be implied respecting this resurrection. 
But at the resurrection at the last day, all 
will hear and all will come forth. The first 
resurrection then is spiritual. "Blessed 
and holy is he that hath part in the 
first resurrection." It must mean those 
who, having been dead in sin, were made 
alive again by the power of the Holy 
Ghost, and became mystically united to 
Christ; and as plants derive vegetable life 
from the earth, and the body derives 
animal life from the soul, the Christian 
derives spiritual life ljom Christ his living 



NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 259 

head. This is what we understand by the 
first resurrection. 

That there is to be but one literal resur- 
rection, the scriptures abundantly prove. 
Let us advert for a moment to a few pas- 
sages looking in this direction : " And this 
is the Father's will which hath sent me, 
that of all which he hath given me, I shall 
lose nothing, but should raise it up again 
at the last day. And this is the will of 
him that sent me, that every one which 
seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may 
have everlasting life ; and I will raise him 
up at the last day. No man can come to 
me, except the Father which hath sent 
me, draw him ; and I will raise him up at 
the last day. I am the living bread which 
came down from heaven. If any man eat 
of this bread, he shall live forever: and 
the bread that I will give is my flesh, which 
I will give for the life of the world. Whoso 
eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, 
hath eternal life ; and I will raise him up 
at the last day." AVho may be said to 



260 NATURE OP THE MILLENNIUM. 

believe in Christ ? Surely not the unbe- 
liever. It is obviously the Christian. 
And when are such to be raised from the 
dead? We answer, the last day. Not 
one thousand years prior to the last day. 
Who may be said to have eaten the flesh 
of Christ, and to have drank his blood ? 
Most assuredly not the wicked, and pro- 
fane, not the infidel, or the scoffer, but the 
Christian. And when is such an one to 
be raised from the dead ? Christ answers 
the interrogatory by saying the last day, 
and not a thousand years previous. 

And is there a last day, a day of judg- 
ment ? Yes, my hearers, this truth is 
clearly revealed in the Bible. When the 
thousand years shall have expired, and be 
added to the years beyond the flood. 
Then an Archangel, the herald of the 
Sovereign Judge, will come down from 
heaven to earth, " to prepare the w T ay of 
the Lord," and to summon the whole 
human race to come forth, that they may 
be in readiness to meet him when he shall 



$ATt?RE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 2&1 

appear in his radiant glory. How vast, 
how majestic, how awfully surprising, will 
be the appearance of that arch-herald, who 
can tell? Adorned with apparel more 
brilliant than the shining sun in all its 
midsummer splendor, with a sparkling 
luster, dyed in all the beauteous hues of 
heaven, fixed upon his brows. He alights 
firm and stately upon this doomed earth, 
and with one foot upon the trembling 
earth, and the other upon the raging sea, 
he shall swear, u time shall be no longer." 
And as his voice reverberates along the 
sky until it reaches the utmost bounds of 
creation, it will be followed by another 
still more sublime — the trump of God 
which sounds from pole to pole. It will 
shake the pillars and battlements of 
heaven; it will penetrate the deepest 
recesses of the tomb, and pour forth its 
amazing, and its awful thunder into the 
abodes and realms of eternal silence ; and 
then go resounding through the trembling 
realms of hell, and vast hell like a surging 



262 NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 

volcano will heave its thousands to the 
bar of God. Whilst worlds will crush 
against worlds, and consternation and 
alarm will seize upon the living tribes of 
earth, and all will obey. 

It matters not whether we be buried in 
a cerement of granite, beneath all the 
rocks, hills, and mighty mountains of the 
world ; heaved up and piled together high 
as the moon, and broad as the circle of the 
earth. We must obey. Methinks the 
call will fall upon the world like the sudden 
pealing thunder of a midnight storm, or 
the hoarse crash of falling worlds. 

* While sinners in despair shall call, 
' Rocks hide us, mountains on us fall I ' 
The saints ascending from the tomb, 
Shall joyful sing, i the Lord is come/ " 

But, it is time to inquire 

II. Into the nature of Christ's kingdom. 
We would here say that it is not our 
opinion that death will cease during the 
millennium, or that mankind will be en- 
tirely freed from all the ills which flesh is 
heir to, or that every member of the 



NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 263 

human family will be Christians, or that 
men will not be required to exert them- 
selves physically to secure the necessaries 
of life. But we will state, 

1. That men will not be permitted to 
prosper in dishonesty as they have hitherto 
done. We shall from this period see the 
disappointment and confusion of those who 
meditate schemes of iniquity. It has 
already been the course which God has 
pursued in his government of the world, 
to order the dispensations of his wrath in 
such a manner as to give men time and 
space for repentance. It is thus that he 
shows his long suffering and forbearance. 
But, it is evident, that as men are always 
progressing in the habits of virtue or of 
vice, so the delay of punishment only 
serves to give a wicked man opportunity 
of growing more wicked and more hardened 
in sin. Thus we see multitudes constantly 
abusing the forbearance of God to their 
eternal destruction; and "because sentence 
against an evil work is not executed 



264 NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 

speedily, the hearts of men are fully set 
in them to do evil." But although God 
is slow to anger, his vengeance is sure* 
The delay of punishment offers no ground 
of hope that any criminal shall escape. 
He has his own wise purposes to answer 
by evil as well as by good. He will 
" cause the wrath of man to praise him, 
and the remainder of wrath he will re- 
strain." Thus, for many years and ages 
he has suffered irfiquity to prevail in the 
world. The spirit of anti-Christ existed 
and operated in the days of the Apostles, 
and continued to grow more powerful from 
age to age, until at length the dominion 
of iniquity was established and anti-Christ 
sat upon the throne. His power has now 
existed for nearly one thousand two hun- 
dred and sixty years. He has succeeded 
in slaying the witnesses and casting their 
bodies out into the streets of the city. 
But now the period of his domination is 
about to close, and the reign of righteous- 
ness about to commence. We may there- 



NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 265 

fore conclude that the first display of the 
power of the Redeemer will appear in 
defeating all the schemes of iniquity. 
You will find that men will not be able to 
prosper in dishonesty as they have hitherto 
done. The hands of sinners will soon be 
caught in their own snares. They will 
soon fall into the pit which they have 
digged for others, and sentence upon an 
evil work will be executed more speedily 
than has been the case since the fall of 
man. Thus, every kind of iniquity will 
appear in its proper colors. Men will learn 
the long neglected art of giving and of 
bearing reproof, and the sinner who perse- 
veres in his transgression, will not only 
lose his influence, but bring upon himself 
the contempt and the abhorrence of man- 
kind. There is much meaning in that 
declaration of the prophet, a The child 
shall die an hundred years old, but the 
sinner being an hundred years old shall be 
accursed." We are here informed that in 
17 



266 NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 

those blessed days that are to come, men 
shall generally live to the age of one 
hundred years, and shall be as healthy 
and vigorous as if they were young men 
until the day of their death ; but the sin- 
ner who has hardened himself in iniquity 
through the course of a hundred years, 
shall be an object of universal abhorrence. 
He shall be MAGOR MISSABIB, a terror 
to himself and to ail around him. 

Another feature of the millennium will 
be a blessed union among the people of God. 
It is one of the most important events 
which ever took place upon the earth. An 
event for which preparation has been 
making for nearly six thousand years. 
Now, the Redeemer will rapidly hasten 
that glorious time when there shall be "one 
Lord and his name one." Therefore it is 
said that "the four and twenty elders, who 
sat before God on their seats, fell upon 
their faces, and worshiped God, saying: 
We give thee thanks, Lord God 



NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 267 

Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to 
come; because thou hast taken to thee 
thy great power, and hast reigned." These 
four and twenty elders are the symbol of 
the Church of God. They are destined 
to set on thrones around the throne of 
Jehovah. "Yea," says the Apostle, 
speaking to the Christian Church, "ye are 
a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an 
holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye 
should show forth the praises of him who 
hath called you out of darkness into his 
marvelous light." They are here repre- 
sented in their true character, as crowned 
in glory and sitting around the throne of 
God. Hence, the truth intended to be 
conveyed to our minds by this expression 
of their praise is, that there will now be a 
union of sentiment and feeling among all 
who profess the Christian name. Chris- 
tians on earth and Christians in heaven 
will join in the ascription of praise and 
glory to God and the Lamb. As from this 



268 NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 

period we may date the downfall of anti- 
Christ, so from this period we may also 
date the commencement of the downfall of 
the spirit of discord and division among 
the true servants of God. Hence, one of 
the most important and blessed results 
which may be anticipated, is the union 
of all the Christian Churches. They 
shall all unite in worship, and in honest 
and persevering exertions for the spread- 
ing of the gospel. It is much to be feared 
that in the unions which have been formed 
among Christians of different denomina- 
tions, and in all the exertions which have 
been made for the promulgation of the 
gospel, there has been too much self-inter- 
est and the leaven of worldly speculation. 
Some honest men have been engaged in 
the work, and some good has already been 
accomplished; but when the spirit of life 
from God shall have entered fully into wit- 
nesses of the truth, and when they shall 
stand upon their feet^ they shall "hear a 



NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 269 

great voice from heaven, saying unto 
them, come up hither." Thus they 
" shall ascend to heaven " in the sight of 
their enemies. By this emblematical rep- 
resentation we are to understand the honor 
and elevation of the witnesses of the 
truth to the highest seats in the Church. 
For the long period of one thousand two 
hundred and sixty years they have been 
despised, and hated, and persecuted, and 
were slain 5 and their bodies lay upon the 
streets of the city; but henceforth they 
shall live in honor and veneration among 
mankind. There will be an honest emula- 
tion among the true ministers of the 
gospel to discover and to publish the 
truth; and this will not only produce a 
union of sentiment and affection among 
themselves; they themselves shall not 
onty see eye to eye, but they shall have 
so much influence on all who attend upon 
their ministry, as to produce union and 
harmony throughout the whole Church of 



270 NATURE OF THE MILLENHIUM. 

God; they shall all join in the heavenly- 
declaration of praise, "we give thee thanks, 
Lord God Almighty, which art, and 
wast, and art to come ; because thou hast 
taken to thee thy great power, and hast 
reigned." Then will Christians in sin- 
cerity exclaim 

" Let names, and sects, and parties fall, 
And Jesus Christ be all in all." 

There will not only be an abstract recogni- 
tion among the churches, touching the 
doctrines of a one body and one spirit, 
even as we are called in one hope of our 
calling," but there will be a recognition 
of its application also. No sectarian pride, 
or denominational peculiarity will longer 
keep the churches in suspicion and selfish 
isolation. An insidious and malicious 
world wiil no longer view with delight the 
unseemly separations and jarrings among 
the churches, and exclaim in scorn, 
" ridente Turcot, nee dolente Judceo;" 
"the voice is the voice of Jacob, but the 



NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 271 

hands are the hands of Esau." But they 
will be compelled to exclaim, "see how 
these Christians love one another. 55 

Another characteristic of the millennium 
will be, a universal reign of peace. 

The binding of Satan implies a restraint 
upon his influence. The language of 
prophecy, pointing to this period, is plain 
and emphatic: "He shall judge among 
many people, and rebuke strong nations 
afar off; and they shall beat their swords 
into plow-shares, and their spears into 
pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up a 
sword against nation, neither shall they 
learn war any more. But they shall sit 
every man under his vine and under his 
fig tree ; and none shall make them afraid, 
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath 
spoken it. 55 War is indeed sport to Satan, 
but it is death to us. Only think of the 
vast numbers that war has destroyed. It 
is no exaggeration to say, that war has 
actually immolated a greater number of 



272 NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 

the human species than are now to be 
found on the surface of the globe. Read 
the biography of Caesar, the pride of proud 
Rome, the terror of the civilized world, 
performing feats in his military maneuver- 
ings approaching almost to miracles, and 
you will be filled with astonishment to learn 
that in fifty battles fought by him, he 
trampled upon the bodies of 1,192,000 of 
his fellow creatures. War! what desola- 
tions has it not wrought. The angel of 
death follows in its train. How many 
cities have been destroyed! How many 
houses emptied! Had not an all-wise 
God by his power restrained the progress 
of war, human society would long since 
have become extinct, and the world have 
become a cemetery, filled with withered 
and bleached bones of dead men. But, 
when the blessed millennium will have 
fully come, 

" Then shall wars and tumults cease." 

The attention of mankind will be turned to 



NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 273 

the interest of the race, and the science 
and talent of mankind will no longer be 
employed in human butchery. The hap- 
piness of the human race, and the best 
interests of society, will be the aim and 
object of the major part of mankind. 
Emanuel shall sway his scepter from the 
northern to the southern pole, and from the 
rising to the setting sun, and his illimita- 
ble dominion will extend so as to embrace 
within its geographical limits all the tribes 
of men. Christ will then receive the 
homage and adoration of the vast majority 
of the peopled world. Then the demon of 
war shall die. Then the temple of Janus 
shall be closed, and the sword will be put 
into an eternal scabbard, and peace spread 
her balmy wings over the nations of the 
earth; and a messenger with hasty precip- 
itation shall descend from the courts of 
bliss, and wave the olive branch of peace 
over the distracted nations, with the 
declaration, "Peace, peace, be still. " 
18 



274 NATUE3 OF THE MILLENNIUM. 

Every "child of grace" shall crowd around 
the cross, with its banners unfurled waving 
in the breeze, bearing the inscription, 
"Peace on earth and good will to men." 
The clangor of war shall not again be heard 
among the nations. The shouts of con- 
quering hosts shall die away forever; for 
the promise is, "their eyes shall see Jeru- 
salem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that 
shall not be taken down ; not one of the 
stakes thereof shall ever be removed, 
neither shall any of the cords thereof be 
broken. But there the glorious Lord will 
be unto us a place of broad rivers and 
streams, wherein shall go no galley with 
oars, neither shall gallant ships pass there- 
by." Visions of that blessed era! how ye 
crowd upon my aching sight ! 

" Thus, till a thousand years be past, 
Shall holiness and peace prevail." 

Another happy feature of that era will 
be, a general diffusion of knoivledge. 
Every circumstance will be favorable to 



NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 275 

it; and the world will be in a condition to 
make rapid advances in knowledge. " In 
the representation of that blessed period 
usually denominated the millennium, when 
religion shall universally prevail, it is men- 
tioned as a conspicuous feature, that c men 
will run to and fro, and knowledge shall be 
increased.' That period will not be distin- 
guished by men's minds being more torpid 
and inactive, but rather by the consecration 
of every power to the service of the Most 
High. It will be a period of remarkable 
illumination, during which 'the light of 
the moon shall be as the light of the sun, 
and the light of the sun shall be seven fold, 
as the light of seven days.' Every useful 
talent will be cultivated, every art subser- 
vient to the interest of man be improved 
and perfected; learning will amass her 
stores, and genius emit her splendor; but 
the former will be displayed with ostenta- 
tion, and the latter shine with the softened 
effulgence of humility and love," 



276 NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 

Every thing calculated to retard the 
progress of knowledge will be removed, 
and free course given to the range of the 
powers of the mind. The midnight of 
moral ignorance, so long the bane of our 
race, shall be dispelled by the rays of 
divine truth. The Bible will be better 
understood, and as a lamp to our path 
will shed a golden ray of light on us, 
while passing through this world on to the 
world above. "They shall not hurt nor 
destroy in all my holy mountain, for the 
earth shall be full of the knowledge of the 
Lord, as the waters cover the sea." "In 
that day shall the deaf hear the words of 
the book, and the eyes of the blind shall 
see out of obscurity, and out of darkness." 
It would seem that this last prophecy is 
now fulfilled. Is it not a fact that the 
blind are now taught to read, by means of 
the blind man's book? Are not the deaf 
also made to hear, as it were, the words of 
the book? "They also that erred in 



NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 277 

spirit shall come to understanding; and 
they that murmured shall learn doctrine. 
Wisdom and knowledge shall be the sta- 
bility of the times, and strength of salva- 
tion ; the fear of the Lord is his treasure. 
I will give you pastors according to mine 
heart, which shall feed you with knowledge 
and understanding." Again, 

It will he a time of rejoicing. We 
cannot express that time of rejoicing better 
than to give the words of prophecy pointing 
to that period. "Thy kingdom come," 
is the prayer to be offered unto God; and 
the Apostle, as already stated, has defined 
that kingdom as being righteousness, 
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. " He 
will swallow up death in victory ; and the 
Lord God will wipe away tears from off all 
faces; and the rebuke of his people shall 
he take away from off all the earth ; for the 
Lord hath spoken it. Break forth into 
joy, sing together, ye waste places of 
Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted 



278 NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 

his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. 
Be ye glad, and rejoice forever in that 
which I create ; for behold, I create Jeru- 
salem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. 
And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy 
in my people; and the voice of weeping 
shall be no more heard in her, nor the 
voice of crying. Sing, daughter of 
Zion ! Shout, Israel ; be glad, and 
rejoice with all the heart, daughter of 
Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away 
thy judgments, he hath cast out thine 
enemy; the King of Israel, even the 
Lord, is in the midst of thee ; thou shalt 
not see evil any more. In that clay, it 
shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not; 
and to Zion, Let not thy hands be slack. 
The Lord thy God in the midst of thee 
is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice 
over thee with joy ; he will rest in his 
love, he will joy over thee with singing." 

That will be Zion's rejoicing time. The 
whole Church of God, raised from the ruin 



NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 279 

of ages, will now have a rejoicing time for 
one thousand years. Mourning Christian, 
raise thy fainting head. Look beyond 
thee ! Zion's reign of triumph is near ! 
Soon the dark impervious clouds that 
tiover o'er thee will disperse; and the rays 
«of the Sun of Righteousness will shine out 
upon the world. Cheer up! Let the 
hope of something better hang like gar- 
lands of light upon thy path ! Soon will 

*"<}hie-so£g employ all nations, &nd ail cry, 
Worthy the Lamb, for he was slain for us ; 
The dwellers in the vales and in the rocks, 
Shout to each other, and the mountain tops 
From distant mountains catch the flying joy ; 
Till nation after nation tasight tlie strain, 
Earth rolls the rapturous hosanna round." 

Soon will the curtain be lifted and disclose 
fche new order of its moral creation. "And 
happiness and peace return to dwell with 
men." Angel lyres and human voices will 
sweetly blend in ascribing glory and 
honor to the Lamb. Angels, springing 
from their thrones of gold, will lay aside 
their glittering crowns, and festal harps, 



280 NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. 

and leave for a season the fair fields of 
light ; and the blooming bowers of the 
eternal paradise — to witness the complete 
destruction of the enemy of Christ's king- 
dom. Methinks they pass by ten thousand 
worlds of light ; that for ages have rolled 
around beneath the eternal throne. With 
hasty precipitation they descend to this 
world; eager to catch the news of triumph; 
and bear the glad intelligence to the celes- 
tial paradise. See them rising up with 
out-stretched wing into the regions of 
light ! Then speedily pass into the por- 
tals of everlasting day. All heaven is 
silent wondering at the astonishing scene ; 
not a harp string is touched. The flaming 
band with anthems of adoration drop at 
the footstool of the throne, there to an- 
nounce the glad intelligence of the triumph 
and glory of the kingdom of Christ in this 
world. What shouts! What songs! All 
heaven is filled with one scene of rapturous 
applause ! Angel trumps resound its fame. 



NATURE OP THE MILLENNIUM 281 

and with their "lutes of lucid gold/' they 
swell out the grand chorus of the joyful 
throng, and make all heaven vocal with 
their praise. Because the accused of the 
brethren is now cast down. 

" All hail the power of Jesus' name, 

Let angels prostrate fall ; 
Bring forth the royal diadem, 

And crown him Lord of all. 

Crown him, ye morning stars of light, 

Who formed this floating ball ; 
Now hail the strength of Israel's might, 

And crown him Lord of all. 



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